Stephanie Grisham is out with a new book today where she detailed what she says were her experiences while serving as then-President Trump’s White House press secretary, where she never gave a single press conference, and as former First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff.
Because the book is considered a “tell-all” and with Grisham teasing its contents in advance of the book’s release, predictably she’s been a sought-after guest and interview subject at many so-called “news” outlets including the Trump-obsessed CNN, where she appeared just this morning.
One claim Grisham made in the book was written about at Business Insider, which detailed an alleged exchange between “Trump’s staff” and Melania Trump where she supposedly told staffers that she didn’t need to meet with then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and his family at the White House during a visit because she’d said “hello” to him at the hospital after his attempted assassination during a Congressional baseball practice game in the summer of 2017:
She wrote that Scalise and his family had gone to the White House for an unscheduled visit shortly after Scalise had recovered from the shooting.
Grisham wrote that Trump’s staff asked her whether she wanted to visit the Scalises, who were gathered in the Blue Room, and that she declined.
“Her response was, ‘No, I already said hello,'” Grisham wrote. Trump was apparently referring to when she and President Donald Trump visited Scalise at the hospital as he was recovering from the shooting. Grisham’s book indicates Melania Trump’s response became a running joke in the East Wing.
In response to the story, Scalise took to the Twitter machine last night to dispute the particulars, tweeting out photos of a White House visit betweeen the Trumps and the Scalises (minus him as he was still recovering in the hospital) and calling the story “fake news”:
🧵 THREAD:
This is how the fake news media machine against President Trump and @MELANIATRUMP works. This never happened. My family went to visit the White House while I was still in the hospital and were graciously given a tour by President and Mrs. Trump. https://t.co/oqwIUebtNg pic.twitter.com/pzJmEq1G1w
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 5, 2021
He then went on to further blast Grisham as a “disgraced former staffer” who was trying “to sell books.”
“This is another pathetic attempt by a disgraced former staffer to tell lies in order to sell books,” Scalise wrote. “If her publisher or a single outlet covering this story had done any fact checking, they would’ve learned it was fake. But they didn’t because it fits their fake narrative.”
In his next tweet, Scalise suggested the media’s/Grisham’s actions were evidence they lacked credibility.
“The fact they need to stoop so low to make up verifiably false stories about a shooting victim and his family to paint a false picture of the Trumps tells you everything you need to know about their credibility,” he concluded.
This morning, Grisham responded to Scalise’s remarks by claiming the visit he posted about was not the visit she was referring to in her book.
“Hi sir. All due respect, this isn’t the visit I write about in my book, as you were still in the hospital,” she said before insinuating he was saying what he was out of loyalty to Trump. “I would never take advantage of the tragedy that befell you, but nevertheless, understand your need to defend the Trumps at all costs.”
Scalise then demanded Grisham show some proof, saying that he “never went for an unscheduled visit” with his family once he was released from the hospital:
Really? What’s the date? I never went for an unscheduled visit with my family after I left the hospital. https://t.co/KmNTDJmNHg
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 5, 2021
As of this writing, she hasn’t responded.
I’m inclined to believe Scalise, not only because he comes across as more adamant and passionate in his dispute with her but also because what’s alleged to have happened occurred at a time in Scalise’s life where he was reminded of what matters most after a deranged Bernie Sanders supporter almost killed him. I would think his memories of what happened in the aftermath would stick with him for a long time, including any graciousness shown to him by others including, of course, from the First Family.
Grisham, on the other hand, is trying to sell a book, and the juicier the supposed details, the more interview requests she gets and presumably more book sales as well.
Who do you believe – Grisham or Scalise?
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