Who is Stephanie Grisham? Trump's former press secretary speaks at DNC, accuses ex-president of making fun of his supporters

Stephanie Grisham, Donald Trump's former White House Press Secretary, attended the ongoing Democratic National Convention held at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. On August 20, Grisham took to the stage on day 2 at the DNC, criticizing the former president for mocking his supporters.

“I saw him when the cameras were off … Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers. On a hospital visit one time when people were dying in the ICU, he was mad that the cameras were not watching him,” she said.

Stephanie Grisham also accused Trump of having "no empathy, no morals, and no fidelity to the truth," something that she noticed firsthand as one of his closest advisors. She also reiterated the story of Melania Trump refusing to denounce the violence during the January 2021 attack on the Capitol Building after Trump lost the 2020 election.

She also endorsed US Vice President Kamala Harris, saying:

“I love my country more than my party. Kamala Harris tells the truth. She respects the American people and she has my vote.”

Stephanie Grisham was Melania Trump's former chief of staff until she quit in 2021 following the Capitol Building attacks.

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Stephanie Grisham joined Trump's campaign as a press aide in 2015

According to Forbes, Stephanie Grisham was a part of Mitt Romney's 2012 presidential campaign before she joined Trump's team in 2015 as a press aide. When Trump was elected, she was promoted as a deputy to Sean Spicer, Trump's then press secretary.

In 2017, Melania Trump appointed her as the communications director of the East Wing. Following this, Stephanie Grisham became the 32nd White House Press Secretary in June 2019, taking on the role of her successor, Sarah Huckabee Sanders. During her time as press secretary, Grisham never held any public White House press briefings.

On April 7, 2020, Stephanie Grisham became Melania's chief of staff. She resigned from her position less than a year later, after the Capitol riots that left five dead and hundreds injured. Following her resignation, she wrote the book I'll Take Your Questions Now, which shed light on the goings-on inside the White House when Trump was president.

In an October 2021 interview with NPR, Stephanie Grisham explained why she wrote the book, claiming the former president often took advantage of the fact that he had a large audience ready to believe his every word.

"I've been watching former President Trump take advantage, I think, of people who believe his every word. And I think that's causing a lot more division and violence. I think when I very first started with him, you know, I really enjoyed that he gave a voice to people who felt forgotten. And I feel like now he's taken advantage of those people a little bit - well, a lot bit," she said.

Stephanie Grisham said that chaos was the only word she would use to describe working at the White House. She added that she hadn't voted for Trump in 2020, saying she continued working in the White House because she had formed a close friendship with Melania Trump and cared about her.

She said she had contemplated resigning many times over the six months before January 2021, but Melania always convinced her to stay. But the straw that broke the camel's back was Melania's refusal to send a tweet condemning the violence during the January 6 Capitol attacks, which led Grisham to tend her resignation that same day.

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The Democratic National Convention, scheduled between August 19 and 22, saw many people speak to endorse Kamala Harris, including Hillary Clinton, President Joe Biden, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Bernie Sanders and former president Barack Obama.