Melania likely 'knew something ahead of time' on Jan 6th: Former Trump press secretary
During an appearance on CNN's "New Day" on Wednesday morning, former Donald Trump press secretary Stephanie Grisham suggested that former first lady Melania Trump made have had some knowledge about her husband's plans on Jan. 6th.
Speaking with hosts John Berman and Brianna Keilar, Grisham, who preceded Kayleigh McEnany as Trump's press secretary, first said that everything she heard in Cassidy Hutchinson's testimony on Tuesday before the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol riot matched up with her experiences in the White House.
After noting that Grisham had gone back to serving as Melania Trump's spokesperson after she was replaced by McEnany, host Berman asked her about Trump's wife's actions as her husband's supporters stormed the Capitol building.
"On the subject of the president, the former president not stepping in to try to stop the violence as it was happening on January 6th, there is an episode that you have written about before, but yesterday they actually posted screenshots of the text exchange you had with the former first lady Melania Trump where you asked her, you say, you know, do you want to release a statement saying that basically violence is bad and she writes back to you one word, 'no.' Why is this important to you?" host Berman asked.
"For me, it was really important because, you know, over the years working with Melania Trump, I was able to go to her, you know, she was the first person in our entire administration who condemned Charlottesville and often I would be able to go to her and say 'this is bad' and she would even pick up the phone and call her husband and talk him down from something or she would put out a statement well ahead of the West Wing to set a tone saying this is not okay," she began.
"That day, when I sent her that text, you know, the text, I wanted her to say wasn't even political, it was just saying everybody has the right to peaceful protest but there is no room for violence, and she just said no," she elaborated. "It just made me think she knew something. It made me think she knew that perhaps her husband was going to be down there. She knew something ahead of time."
"I don't know this for a fact but, again, knowing her as well as I did at that point it was so unlike her to not have condemned it that that was the moment it all kind of broke me, that's what I wrote in the book, and I resigned immediately afterwards," she continued.
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