Mary Trump says GOP convention 'disturbing to watch,' calls portrayal of president a sham
President Donald Trump's wife and children spoke on the first three nights of the Republican National Convention — and his niece showed up for the grand finale.
Mary Trump, who wrote a devastating best-selling tell-all book about the president and his family, joined an MSNBC panel for the final night of the convention, where she mocked its portrayal of the president as a solid family man.
"The idea of passing him off like a great family man is like trying to pass him off as a great businessman," Trump said.
She said the convention has been "disturbing to watch" because of its efforts to portray the president as an empathetic person who cares about women. There's "so much evidence he doesn't care about other people" or even "people in the family," she said.
"I'm not sure why the American people continue to be fooled by the rhetoric," she said.
Mary Trump called her uncle's use of a crowded White House lawn with people sitting close together not wearing masks for the final night of the convention "inappropriate," but she added that he has "been rewarded for bad behavior his entire life."
Asked whether her uncle was concerned that some of his supporters could die from COVID-19 because of the crowding situation at the White House, she said, "Not at all."
"He feels no shame. He has no humility. And that's part of the reason we're in the mess we're in," Trump said.
Mary Trump made a splash right before the convention, as well — releasing audiotapes of conversations she had had with her aunt Maryanne Trump Barry about the president.
In the secretly taped recordings, Barry, the president's sister, said, "Donald is cruel," and she also called him a liar.
"He has no principles. None. None. And his base, I mean, my God, if you were a religious person, you want to help people. Not do this," Barry said on one.
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Jason Miller, a senior adviser to the Trump campaign, said Sunday on NBC News' "Meet the Press" that it was "shameful" for the recordings to be publicly released "literally the day after the funeral for Robert Trump," the president's younger brother.
Chris Bastardi, a spokesperson for Mary Trump, said she made the recordings because she "realized members of her family had lied in prior depositions."
"Anticipating litigation, she felt it prudent to tape conversations in order to protect herself," he said.
