Stephanie Grisham Refutes Melania Trump’s Claim She Didn’t Know About Jan. 6 Riot: ‘It’s Nonsense’

Sarah RumpfJul 21st, 2022, 8:08 pm
 

Melania Trump’s former chief of staff Stephanie Grisham isn’t buying the former First Lady’s claim she didn’t know about the rioters attacking the Capitol when she declined to tweet a message condemning the violence.

During CNN’s coverage before tonight’s hearing of the Jan. 6 House Select Committee, Jake Tapper spoke to several former Trump White House staffers, including Grisham. Last month, she tweeted a screenshot of a  text message conversation with Trump in which she asked the First Lady if she would like to post a tweet and got a one-word reply, “No.”

On Thursday, Trump told Fox News Digital that she was busy “fulfilling one of my duties as First Lady of the United States of America,” referring to scheduled work she was doing that day with White House archival photographers, “and accordingly, I was unaware of what was simultaneously transpiring at the U.S. Capitol Building.”

Tapper asked Grisham about her text message with Trump and this new interview. “Is it really possible that she would not know that there was a major riot at the Capitol?” he asked.

“No. I mean, the short answer is no.” Grisham replied.

She added that she didn’t want to “take away from the importance” of tonight’s hearing, “but I will say that everything she said seems to me like an attempt at distraction, actually, on behalf of her husband,” former President Donald Trump.

“I can dispute every single thing that she said today with emails, with texts, and also I sent her a text saying, ‘Do you want to condemn violence?'” Grisham insisted. “If she didn’t know what I was talking about, why didn’t she say ‘What violence?’ Instead she just said ‘No.’ It rings to me as not true. It’s nonsense and it takes away from what’s going to happen tonight.”

Watch the video above via CNN.

Tonight’s hearing begins at 8 pm ET. Watch the livestream here and follow all of Mediaite’s coverage here.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!

Tags:
Sarah Rumpf - Contributing Editor

Sarah Rumpf joined Mediaite in 2020 and is a Contributing Editor focusing on politics, law, and the media. A native Floridian, Sarah attended the University of Florida, graduating with a double major in Political Science and German, and earned her Juris Doctor, cum laude, from the UF College of Law. Sarah's writing has been featured at National Review, The Daily Beast, Reason, Law&Crime, Independent Journal Review, Texas Monthly, The Capitolist, Breitbart Texas, Townhall, RedState, The Orlando Sentinel, and the Austin-American Statesman, and her political commentary has led to appearances on television, radio, and podcast programs across the globe. Follow Sarah on Threads, Twitter, and Bluesky.