Who is new White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham?
Stephanie Grisham was named on Tuesday as the successor to outgoing White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders. Sanders will leave her post Friday, and Grisham will take on one of the most visible roles in President Trump’s White House.
Here are five key facts to know about Grisham.
She’s been with Trump nearly four years
Grisham originally joined the Trump campaign in 2015, organizing in Arizona and first taking responsibility for corralling press at his first Phoenix rally.
She eventually served as a key Trump staffer in Arizona during the 2016 campaign as well as an organizer for his 2016 campaign rallies and later serving as a vice chairwoman on his transition team after his electoral victory.
{mosads}”I essentially lived with his press,” Grisham told Fox’s Phoenix affiliate in 2017. “Especially that last six months, we would wake up together in the same hotel; we would fly on the same airplane together; we would end up at night together at the same hotel.”
She’s currently a top spokesperson for Melania Trump
First lady Melania Trump announced Grisham had been named press secretary Tuesday afternoon.
“I am pleased to announce @StephGrisham45 will be the next @PressSec & Comms Director!” the first lady tweeted. “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.”
After Trump’s inauguration, Grisham initially worked as a deputy to then-press secretary Sean Spicer before joining the East Wing in March 2017 as Melania Trump’s communications director and was later promoted to deputy chief of staff for communications.
Grisham will continue to help with East Wing duties even as she takes over as both press secretary and White House communications director. The latter position has been empty since March.
She’s a single mother
Sanders has frequently spoken of balancing the press secretary position with motherhood, and Grisham has worked toward a similar balance as the mother of two boys. In 2017, she said her schedule in the East Wing made her responsibilities to her then-9-year-old son easier.
“The reason I ultimately left [the White House communications staff] is because I want to bring my little boy out here to live with me full time,” Grisham told the Fox affiliate at the time.
“That kind of schedule, as a single parent, it wouldn’t be fair to him. Over here, the hours aren’t quite as long. The first lady is very, very supportive of me, as a single mother, and I’ll be able to work from home if I need to,” she added.
She built a career in Arizona Republican politics
Before joining the Trump campaign, Grisham worked on now-Sen. Mitt Romney’s (R-Utah) 2012 presidential campaign, owned an Arizona public relations firm and also worked as a spokeswoman for Arizona state House Republicans. She acted as a spokeswoman for then-Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne (R) and state House Speaker David Gowan (R).
“She’s a great advocate for the person she’s working for. She’s very friendly easy to be around, and she’s very effective,” Horne told AZ Central. “She has good relationships with reporters. And she is very committed to her work.”
She’s familiar with controversy
In her East Wing role, Grisham has developed a reputation as a defender of the first lady. Among other things, she has fired back in the media over questions about Melania Trump’s wardrobe and made headlines in November 2018 when she publicly called for the resignation of Mira Ricardel, a top lieutenant of national security adviser John Bolton.
“It is the position of the Office of the First Lady that she no longer deserves the honor of serving in this White House,” Grisham said in a statement after East Wing staff clashed with Ricardel over plane seating during an October trip to Africa. Ricardel later departed her position.
Grisham has also been warned to watch her personal use of Twitter. In September 2018, the Office of the Special Counsel issued a warning letter alleging Grisham violated the Hatch Act with a tweet using the “MAGA” hashtag, which the office said ran afoul of the law against White House officials advocating for or against candidates.