Stephanie Grisham ‘sickened’ Melania Trump declined to tweet message discouraging violence on Jan. 6

Stephanie Grisham, a former top aide to former first lady Melania Trump, said she was “sickened” after her boss declined to sign off on a statement discouraging the violence that took place on Jan. 6, 2021.

Grisham on Tuesday tweeted out a text message she purportedly had with the former first lady in which she asked Trump if she wanted to tweet that “peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness & violence,” to which Trump apparently replied, “No.”

“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,” Grisham said during an interview on CNN’s “New Day” on Wednesday where she discussed Tuesday’s testimony from former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson.

“Yesterday, hearing Cassidy’s testimony, I felt compelled to show that text because it was a lot of context I thought, and again, knowing Melania like I did, I was so disappointed and discouraged and sickened that she wouldn’t stand up and just say simply, ‘There should be no violence,’” she added.

Less than a week after the Capitol riot took place, the former first lady issued a statement saying she said she was “disappointed and disheartened” and condemned the violence from that day.

Grisham’s text conversation with Trump has been previously included in her book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House,” which she released last fall.

Trump’s office said in a statement before the book’s release that “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 office added.

The comments from Grisham come a day after Hutchinson, a former aide to former White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, testified in-person before the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot.

She offered new revelations on Tuesday, including that both Rudy Giuliani and Meadows sought pardons from former President Trump and said that Meadows acknowledged before Jan. 6 that things could turn violent that day.

The Hill has reached out to a Trump spokesperson for comment.

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