White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders is counting down the minutes until she is able to escape the press room. She began dribbling out press briefings until she finally quit holding formal press briefings altogether. White House press journalists probably will not be shedding any tears when she leaves on Friday, but who will replace her?
Unfortunately, the woman Donald Trump stole from the First Lady Melania Trump may be even worse than Sanders, but he likes her. Stephanie Grisham was with the Trump campaign early on and moved with the transition team into the White House. Grisham handled Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzō Abe (安倍 晋三) and his wife’s first visit to POTUS’ southern White House, Mar-a-Lago.
With the communications director job open, Sanders leaving, and few people interested in working for him, the president scooped Graham up. She will be serving in a dual role as Press Secretary/Communications director, both are heavy-lifting positions dealing in strategy.
The problem with Grisham was that she has had two driving under the influence charges. The first was in 2013, and the second one was in 2015, “according to Arizona court records. She paid all associated fines and disclosed both incidents to the White House during the transition,” The Washington Post reported.
Sanders wrote this about Grisham:
‘During the campaign, she developed a good relationship with the president, and that’s carried through. She has developed a great amount of trust from both the president and the first lady, which is a pretty high commodity here. There aren’t a lot of people who have a lot of regular interaction with both of them.’
After the Japanese prime minister visit, Mrs. Trump noticed Grisham and moved the woman to the East Wing as her spokesperson. The first lady just announced that Grisham was taking on new responsibilities:
‘I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director! She has been with us since 2015 – @potus & I can think of no better person to serve the Administration & our country. Excited to have Stephanie working for both sides of the @WhiteHouse. #BeBest‘
The leaving press secretary wrote:
‘@StephGrisham45 will be an incredible asset to the President and the country. I’m sad to leave the WH, but so happy to leave our team in such great hands. Stephanie will do a phenomenal job. Proud to have another mom and a great friend in this role. https://t.co/OYvwL0E1JU — Sarah Sanders (@PressSec) June 25, 2019’
People who know Grisham know to keep their distance, the Washington Post wrote:
‘Grisham’s role has drawn attention for her acerbic statements directed at those who have crossed Melania Trump and her husband. When Trump attacked Mika Brzezinski in the summer of 2017 and claimed falsely in a tweet that she was “bleeding badly from a facelift,” rather than shying away from the controversy, Grisham offered this statement on Melania Trump’s behalf: ‘When her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.’
There was another incident, this time with the president’s first wife, Ivana Trump:
‘…Ivana Trump, cheekily called herself the “first Trump wife” and therefore “the first lady” while promoting a book last year, Grisham called Ivana “attention-seeking and self-serving.” Grisham even got into an argument on Twitter with Issa Rae after the actress said in an interview that she would cancel her show “Insecure” if she learned that Melania Trump was a fan.’
Featured image is a screenshot via YouTube.
