Trump critic George Conway makes rare TV appearance for impeachment hearing

William Cummings | USA TODAY

WASHINGTON – Conservative attorney George Conway – husband to White House counselor Kellyanne Conway – appeared on MSNBC Wednesday as a commentator on the first open hearing in the impeachment inquiry into allegations against President Donald Trump.

Conway, a former Trump supporter, has criticized the president with increasing regularity and vehemence since he took office. Last month, he declared Trump to be "unfit for office" in The Atlantic.

But he has not appeared on television to share his views, declining all previous requests for on-camera interviews, according to CNN's Brian Stelter.

"I don't, frankly, want to be on television," but the impeachment hearings were worth making an exception, Conway said.

"This is about the country, people doing the right thing by the country, and not by their party," Conway said Wednesday. "This is about telling the truth about what really happened."

WATCH LIVE: Diplomat says his aide overheard Trump asking about investigations

WATCH: George Conway discusses the US Constitution, President Trump and the president's actions in regard to Ukraine. pic.twitter.com/X0vFOGVKwU — MSNBC (@MSNBC) November 13, 2019

Trump is accused of using U.S. military aid as leverage to pressure Ukraine into announcing investigations into former Vice President Joe Biden, a leading Democratic presidential primary candidate and a theory that Ukraine, not Russia, was behind 2016 election interference.

Conway said that he was "horrified" and "appalled" by his fellow Republicans' continued support for the president in the face of the allegations and Trump's other controversial acts in office.

"If you had told me three years ago that it would come to this, I would not have believed it," Conway said. "I don't think I could have imagined the president, any president, engaging in this sort of conduct."

He advised conservatives to "take that Republican hat off and look at it neutrally. Look at what you would have done if Donald Trump were a Democrat. Would you be making these ridiculous arguments about process?"

"If Barack Obama had done this, they'd be out for blood, and they'd be right," he said.