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A former confidante of Donald Trump has thrown her support behind Kamala Harris at the Democratic Party convention ahead of the 2024 US election and made accusations against Trump.
Chicago – Among the speakers who will address the audience on Tuesday evening (20 August) are US election 2024 caused a stir at the four-day Democratic Party convention in Chicago, including a former employee of the former US government under the Republican ex-president Donald Trump: Stephanie Grisham. She served as press secretary to Donald Trump as well as chief of staff to his current wife Melania Trump employed.
Former Donald Trump employee speaks out at Democratic convention ahead of 2024 US election
Stephanie Grisham speaks about her time as Donald Trump’s press secretary at the Democratic Party convention ahead of the 2024 US election. © Jasper Colt/Imago
In a short speech at the beginning of the program on Tuesday evening (August 20), Grisham first addressed her past as a Trump supporter: She was not only a supporter of the former president, but “a true believer” and one of his closest advisers.
“The Trump family became my family. I spent Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve at Mar-a-Lago (Donald Trump’s Florida residence, ed.). I saw him when the cameras were off,” Grisham said.
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Grisham claimed that behind closed doors, Trump mocked his supporters as “basement dwellers” and once complained during a hospital visit that the cameras were focused on intensive care patients and not on him.
“He has no empathy, no morals and no loyalty to the truth,” Grisham said. “He always told me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie. Say it often enough and people will believe you.'”
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After storming of the US Capitol: Trump employee could “no longer be part of this madness”
Grisham said the insurrection on January 6, 2021, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent the certification of Joe Biden’s election victory, was the last straw for her and made her rethink her position and turn her back on the Trumps. The violent attack left five people dead, including a police officer and a woman who was shot by police. Two other officers on duty that day later died by suicide, and more than 100 officers were injured.
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“I asked Melania that day if we could at least tweet that while peaceful protest is the right of every American, there is no place for lawlessness and violence. She answered with one word: ‘No,'” Grisham said. An image of the alleged text conversation flashed on a screen behind her.
Grisham said she was the first senior Trump aide to resign that day because she “could no longer be a part of this madness.” There were several other Trump aides who cited the Capitol attack as a reason for their resignations.
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Now Grisham is supporting the Democratic Party ahead of the 2024 US election because they love the country more than themselves.Kamala Harris tells the truth, she respects the American people and she has my vote,” Grisham said of the Democratic presidential candidate. Grisham’s comments were condemned by the Democrats Democrats received with great applause at the United Center – reprimanded by Trump and his campaign team.
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“Stephanie Grisham is a stone-cold loser who clearly suffers from many mental health issues,” Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung told the Washington PostHe added: “She is a liar and a fraud, and it is ridiculous that she is willing to take the podium at the Democratic National Convention but is too afraid to do so in the White House.”
“Deceptive and disturbed person”: Trump camp attacks former employee
The Trump family has distanced itself from Grisham since she left the Trump administration, especially after Grisham published a memoir in 2021 in which she described working for former President Trump as a “classic abusive relationship.” At the time, a Trump spokeswoman denied the Buch as an attempt to “make money and sell lies about the Trump family,” while a representative for Melania Trump called Grisham “a deceitful and disturbed individual who does not deserve the trust of anyone.”
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Grisham is one of several former and current Republicans who have agreed to speak at the Democratic convention to encourage people to vote for Harris over Trump. Others included John Giles, a mayor from Arizona, and former congressman Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, one of the ten republicanwho had voted for impeachment against Trump at the time.
Recently, a former chief of staff also spoke out against Donald Trump ahead of the 2024 US election.
About the author
Amy B. Wang is a reporter covering national US politics. She joined the Arizona Republic to Washington Post.
We are currently testing machine translations. This article has been automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English on August 21, 2024 at the “Washingtonpost.com“ was published – as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.
