Claudia Conway, 16, told American Idol that the social media meant her ‘voice is being heard’ after being ‘suppressed’ most of her life.
The 16-year-old daughter of former Donald Trump assistant Kellyanne Conway and Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway speaks out about her “ hard ” upbringing during a new clip of her audition on the show.
Claudia will appear in the first episode of the series airing on ABC on Sunday, February 14.
Her performance comes after the teen rose to fame on TikTok in the past year, with more than 1.7 million followers watching her destroy her parents’ politics and fall out with her mother.
Last month, New Jersey police launched an investigation after Claudia accused her mother of posting a topless photo of her on Twitter before returning later, saying Conway was not to blame.
Claudia Conway, 16, told American Idol that the social media meant her ‘voice is being heard’ after being ‘suppressed’ most of her life. Picture Claudia at her audition
The 16-year-old daughter of former Donald Trump assistant Kellyanne Conway and Lincoln Project co-founder George Conway speaks out about her ‘hard’ upbringing during a new clip from her audition on the show
The audition clip, shared by People, shows Claudia opening up to Judges Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan about how social media – and singing – had helped her make her voice heard.
‘I am Claudia Conway. I’m 16 ‘, she says at the beginning of the clip.
‘My mom is Kellyanne Conway. She worked for Donald Trump. And my dad is George Conway. He is a lawyer he worked against Donald Trump. ‘
The judges all look at each other and smile as Richie says ‘wow’.
“It’s a lot, but I agree that I disagree with my mom and dad,” says Claudia.
The TikTok star explains how it was ‘difficult’ to grow up with her mother who worked for Trump and said her ‘feelings had been suppressed’ before joining social media and starting to post about her own views.
“When your mom works for the President of the United States, who you don’t agree with at all, it’s difficult,” she continues.
‘For most of my life my feelings had been suppressed, so then I got into social media and I was like,’ Well. Now my voice is heard, ” she says.
Claudia adds that now she ‘wants to[s] to get out of the controversy ‘and focus on her singing.
Claudia will appear in the first episode of the series airing on ABC on Sunday, February 14. Claudia’s father George accompanied her to the audition
A commercial for the show released Monday also featured images of Kellyanne on a giant screen in the audition room (above)
“The internet can be a very, very dark place,” she says.
‘But when life goes downhill, I have my music. Now I want to get out of the controversy a little bit, get out of the drama and let people know that I am a singer and this is what I want to do. ‘
The clip also includes a home video promo video filmed before the audition.
In it, Claudia speaks to the camera as she climbs out of a window.
“So you probably know me as a 15-year-old emancipation girl or that blonde woman from Fox News’s daughter. I’m a little bit more than that, ”she says.
Claudia’s father George can also be seen in the images outside the door of the audition room encouraging her before taking the stage.
“You’re going to do great,” he says as she gives her a hug as she replies, “Thank you Dad.”
Claudia’s performance on the show comes after the teen rose to fame on TikTok last year, with more than 1.7 million followers
Claudia has repeatedly lashed out at her mother’s conservative views and support for Trump
Meanwhile, Kellyanne has previously said she supports her daughter’s music career, saying she is ‘proud’ of her for ‘sharing her beautiful voice’.
Claudia and her siblings are taught to be independent self-starters and free-thinkers who dream big and pursue high goals. She sets goals and works towards them. Of course, American Idol is the next level! she said to People.
“We are proud of Claudia for entering the arena and sharing her beautiful voice and inspiring message about mental health with others.”
A commercial for the show released Monday also showed the 16-year-old showing her telling the judges she was “ very nervous, but very excited. ”
It showed Claudia introducing herself to the judges, as well as images of Kellyanne on a big screen in the audition room and the teen sitting next to George.
Host Ryan Seacrest is asked out loud in a voiceover if Claudia would receive a Golden Ticket to Hollywood.
Perry says to Claudia, “We want an American idol.”
It is not clear whether Claudia passed the audition phase of the competition.
American Idol premieres on ABC on Sunday and also includes Claudia’s audition.
Claudia first announced that she would be appearing on the show in November in a video on her TikTok account.
In January, New Jersey police launched an investigation into a topless photo of Claudia posted to the former Trump assistant’s Twitter. Depicted police in Conway’s house
Claudia had accused her mother of leaking the image on Twitter’s recently launched Fleets feature, which deletes messages after 24 hours. The teen later backtracked on her comments, apologizing (above) by insisting in videos on TikTok that Kellyanne would ‘never do that on purpose’ and saying her account was likely ‘hacked’
“Hey guys, I’m here at the American Idol confessional,” she says in the video.
‘I met Ryan Seacrest today and I have my audition soon, so stay tuned.’
Claudia has repeatedly beaten her mother for her conservative views and her support of Trump.
Kellyanne was a close adviser to Trump and his third campaign manager at the 2016 White House race, helping him beat Hillary Clinton.
Meanwhile, George is vocally anti-Trump as a co-founder of the Lincoln Project, an anti-Trump Republican group that tried to avoid getting reelected.
Kellyanne left the White House in August after months of public feuds with Claudia writing the teen on her TikTok.
In one video, Claudia threatened to pursue legal emancipation, saying her mother’s job had “ ruined her life. ”
In January, New Jersey police launched an investigation into a topless photo of Claudia posted to the former Trump assistant’s Twitter.
Claudia had accused her mother of leaking the image on Twitter’s recently launched Fleets feature, which deletes messages after 24 hours.
The teen later walked back on her comments and apologized by insisting in videos on TikTok that Kellyanne “ would never do that on purpose ” and said her account was likely “ hacked. ”