Former White House press secretary on Trump threats: ‘How is that not intimidation?’
Former White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham said a recent “chilling” social media post from the former President Trump is likely witness intimidation.
“IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” Trump posted to Truth Social on Friday.
“I think it’s chilling,” Grisham, who served under the Trump administration, said Friday in an interview on CNN, referring to the post. “Legally it doesn’t seem like it’s very smart, but how is that not intimidation? What other people are going to take a message from that?”
Trump was arraigned Thursday on four federal charges alleging that he orchestrated a plan to overturn the results of the 2020 election. He pleaded not guilty.
Grisham testified to the House Jan. 6 committee last year about her experiences in the administration, including noting meetings Trump took in the run-up to the Jan. 6, 2021, riot on the Capitol. She has since been a noted critic of her former boss, including accusing him of sexually harassing employees.
“I just don’t understand, does somebody have to get hurt before people take this kind of online intimidation seriously?,” she said Friday.
“I know he’s pointing out prosecutors, but as somebody who gets death threats every other day, it makes me nervous,” she added. “It should make anybody who had ever spoken out against him nervous, and that’s a lot of people.”
Trump faces a second federal indictment alleging that he mishandled classified documents. Grisham has also claimed she witnessed Trump show guests at his Mar-a-Lago resort documents that were classified.