On January 6th, the insurrectionists breached the Capitol at 1:20 pm. There were multiple points of ingress, but that was when the first insurrectionists made into the building, and it was all being shown live on cable news. As everything quickly went to hell, Stephanie Grisham – then the White House senior staff – texted Melania Trump, suggesting that Melania tweet out a message saying everyone has a right to protest, but not violently. Melania texted back “no.” This is the first excerpt from Grisham’s new memoir about her time in the White House, where she moved seamlessly between East Wing and West Wing.
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.
Grisham, a years-long Trump loyalist who resigned within hours of that text exchange, also writes that she asked Melania a couple times whether she should reach out to JILL BIDEN during the transition to set up the traditional inauguration tea. But instead of setting up the meeting, Melania told her that they should “see what the West Wing does.” The reason, according to Grisham: Melania, like her husband, believed the election was illegitimate.
A statement provided by the office of Melania Trump said: “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.” (Her mention of “failed personal relationships” appears likely to be a reference to Grisham’s past relationship with former Trump aide MAX MILLER. Citing three people familiar with the incident, POLITICO Magazine reported in July that the relationship “ended when he pushed her against a wall and slapped her in the face in his Washington apartment after she accused him of cheating on her.” He denied the allegation.)
Grisham joined the Trump campaign in 2015 and, despite her misgivings, remained with the White House until close to the end. She writes that Melania’s response to her text on Jan. 6 “broke” her since she had long defended the first lady against accusations that she was a Marie Antoinette-type dilettante. Now, Grisham writes, she sees Melania like “the doomed French queen. Dismissive. Defeated. Detached.”
Holy crap, did you catch that? The part about Melania refusing to tweet out a message during the insurrection is completely awful, of course, but the new statement from Melania trashing Grisham??? OMG. “It is an attempt to redeem herself after a poor performance as press secretary, failed personal relationships, and unprofessional behavior…” After Stephanie Grisham was the victim of intimate-partner violence?? And Melania is the pot calling the kettle lazy and incompetent with this crap. I mean, Grisham always sounded incompetent, absolutely. But Melania is one to talk.
Politico also says that Grisham’s memoir will reveal that Melania was totally ride-or-die for her husband’s “rigged election” lies. Melania told Grisham that “something bad happened” and that the results were not legitimate. A publishing source also told Politico that Grisham’s memoir will spill some tea about Jared Kushner. And Grisham plans to reveal some secrets about Donald Trump that even Melania doesn’t know? Like, who he was sexually harassing in the White House?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Backgrid.
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