George Conway needs that sort of friend right now. The poor man is clearly not well. His wife Kellyanne works for Donald Trump. He hates Trump and goes around saying how awful the 45th president is. There’s been all sorts of speculation as to the health of relationship, speculation that intensified earlier this week when he snapped at his wife on, yes, Twitter. Kellyanne had tweeted about Joe Biden. ‘We need Ukraine’s help to defeat THIS guy?’ she asked, mocked. ‘Your boss apparently thought so,’ he replied, tartly. This was the first time he had challenged his betrothed in public on the matter of her boss, and it was what other lonely Twitter addicts call a ‘popcorn moment’ — a marital Trump spat that the nosey world could all enjoy…

Cockburn met George at The Spectator’s US launch party in New York; he arrived with avid NeverTrumpers Rick Wilson and Molly Jong-Fast. Perhaps Cockburn’s conversational skills were disappointing, but George looked glum. He wanted to be friendly but he exuded the atmosphere of somebody who has spent too much time letting his anger fester.

George’s new professional Trump-loathing pals may be encouraging him to vent his marital misery in public; they certainly all retweet each other a lot. But Cockburn can’t help wondering if they really have his best interest at heart?