‘I Call BS!’ Ex-Trump Official Cracks CNN Anchor Up With Take on Melania Bombshell

Former Trump administration official Stephanie Grisham drew guffaws from CNN anchor Phil Mattingly with her take on First Lady Melania Trump’s bombshell press event about deceased sex criminal Jeffrey Epstein.

Melania Trump stunned the media world on Thursday afternoon with a surprise press event during which she lashed out over Epstein rumors and called for public hearings for the survivors.

Among the gusher of reactions was a claim from President Donald Trump that he did not know Melania was going to make the statement.

On Thursday’s edition of CNN’s The Lead, Grisham — who was a chief spokesperson for Melania and for President Trump in the first term — called “BS” on Trump and drew laughter when Mattingly asked if Trump could have stopped her:

PHIL MATTINGLY: We’re back with more on our law and justice lead, First Lady Melania Trump’s rare statement distancing herself from Jeffrey Epstein and calling on Congress to allow Epstein victims to testify under oath. Joining me now, Stephanie Grisham. She was the first lady’s chief of staff and press secretary during President Trump’s first term.

I think the thing that honestly, I don’t really understand why this happened today. And so that would be my first question to you is no one seemed to know it was coming. It seems to be a month and a half plus removed from when this was really front and center of things. What’s your sense of the why here?

STEPHANIE GRISHAM: You know, I’ve got a couple of thoughts. Either, you know, there — her press shop has been getting inquiries and she’s trying to head off a story, or her press shop has been getting inquiries and she just kind of got sick of all the nonsense. She can go so far and then she gets really tired of being interjected into some of her husband’s shadier areas of life and then — and then she will speak out. So, you know, I said it today on X and I want to say it again, kudos to her for speaking out and putting those victims front and center.

MATTINGLY: You know, the first lady’s known for when she does speak out, she’s willing to make bold statements. You know, you worked for her when she wore, of course, the jacket that everybody remembers the I really don’t care. Do — you know her well, the decision to come forward now and speak, you gave a good kind of run through of how maybe she thinks through things or what was happening at the time. Are you surprised that it happened now and not earlier on in this process?

GRISHAM: No, she — Melania Trump thinks about everything she does. And she thinks about it for a very long time. And she does things very strategically. And she knew full well that walking out there into the White House residence behind that podium like that would make absolute waves. And so she chose this time.

Again, I don’t know why. Perhaps again it’s a story or she just got an inquiry or she saw something obscure that nobody else did see and it just — it just made her upset. But she chose this very specifically and she definitely thought on it for a few days. And I’m going to say I called BS on our president saying he knew nothing about it because at the very least, I imagine she would have given him a heads up if she had sent an advisory out yesterday.

MATTINGLY: Is there anything he could do if she gave a heads up and he didn’t want it to happen?

GRISHAM: Absolutely not. (LAUGHTER) Absolutely not. She is — I mean, I’m going to feel like I’m going back to my talking points from when I was her comms director and her chief of staff, but it’s the truth. She’s a very strong, very independent woman. And when she feels that she needs to do something and she feels very strongly and that it’s the right thing to do, she will do it.

No matter what anybody says, be it her husband, be it her advisors, it doesn’t matter.

MATTINGLY: (LAUGHS) That has long been my understanding from some of your former colleagues, some of the current White House officials as well.

Watch above via CNN’s The Lead.

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