Melania Trump Was Alerted to January 6th Violence Earlier Than Thought According to Stephanie Grisham Tell-All
MANDEL NGAN/AFP
Former First Lady Melania Trump was alerted to the violent insurrection unfolding at the Capitol on January 6th, an hour before her husband, Former President Donald Trump, tweeted encouragement to those rioting at the US Capitol.
This report comes from Politico Playbook, which sourced this from a new tell-all book from Ms. Trump’s then-Chief of Staff Stephanie Grisham, who also served as White House Press Secretary under President Trump.
Politico obtained a copy of Grisham’s forthcoming book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House, set for an October 5th release date from publisher HarperCollins.
Politico reports:
At 1:25 p.m. on Jan. 6, soon after rioters had broken through barricades outside of the Capitol, MELANIA TRUMP received a text message from her then-chief of staff, STEPHANIE GRISHAM.
“Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?” Grisham asked the first lady.
A minute later, Melania replied with a one-word answer: “No.” At that moment, she was at the White House preparing for a photo shoot of a rug she had selected, according to exclusive excerpts of Grisham’s forthcoming book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House,” obtained by POLITICO.
Why is this relevant? Well, it undercuts the rather specious claims made by the White House that Trump wasn’t aware that Vice President Mike Pence faced danger by the Trump supporters who invaded the capitol to stop the certification of the Electoral College results that confirmed President Joe Biden would succeed Trump.
Trump tweeted what many saw as a provocative message directed at his Vice President, criticizing Pence for not having the courage to “do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution.”
Trump wanted Pence to halt the certification process, but the VP refused seeing no Constitutional right to do so. Security camera footage of Pence and his family being whisked out of the Capitol by Secret Service at2:26 pm ET, just two minutes after Trump tweeted above. “Hang Mike Pence” was chanted by some insurrectionists as they invaded the Capitol and tried to enter the House and Senate chambers.
The former First Lady provided a statement to Politico designed to undermine not just the contents of Grisham’s book, but Grisham’s character herself: “The intent behind this book is obvious. It is an attempt to redeem herself after a poor performance as press secretary, failed personal relationships, and unprofessional behavior in the White House. Through mistruth and betrayal, she seeks to gain relevance and money at the expense of Mrs. Trump.”
Read Politico’s full write-up here.
