Prominent conservative slams GOP under Trump: 'Republicans just lie casually now'

George Conway (Chip Somodevilla/AFP)

A prominent conservative, and vocal critic of both former President Donald Trump and the current iteration of the Republican Party, ripped into both Wednesday night, saying the GOP has become "addicted to lies under Trump."

Conway's comments on CNN came in response to a clip in which House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said Trump "of course" respects the Constitution and the peaceful transfer of power.

"The pretense that Donald Trump cares about the Constitution, the pretense that he didn't try to overthrow the Constitution, the pretense that, as Donald Trump has been saying, the people who went up to Capitol Hill on Jan. 6 were and then were prosecuted are 'hostages' ... I mean, in light of that it's just impossible to say with any honesty that Donald Trump supports the Constitution," Conway said.

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He doubled down on the criticism, adding: "It's impossible to say that," referring to his previous comment, "and Speaker Johnson manages to do that. And he does that because Republicans just lie casually now. And that's just become a way of life for the Republican Party."

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Criticizing Trump is familiar ground for Conway, a conservative lawyer and political commentator who was previously married to Trump's senior advisor Kellyanne Conway.

Conway has said Trump "deserves to spend his life in prison," and called the former president both an "adjudicated rapist" and "authoritarian," and noted that his continued support represents "partisanship run amok."

"I think there is some segment of the population that wants a strong man. And I don't mean that in a complimentary way," he said on Amanpour & Co. "I mean that in a quasi-dictatorial, authoritarian figure.

Watch the clip below or at this link.