Stephanie Grisham, ex-Trump press secretary with Arizona ties, boosts Kamala Harris at DNC

Stephanie Grisham, a former Trump administration official with ties to Arizona, threw her support behind Kamala Harris on Tuesday at the Democratic National Convention.

“I love my country more than my party,” Grisham said in Chicago. “Kamala Harris tells the truth, she respects the American people and she has my vote.” 

Before she became a White House official in former President Donald Trump’s administration, Grisham got her start in Arizona politics. Grisham served as White House press secretary under Trump and as former first lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff. Before that, Grisham worked for Arizona Republicans, including then-Attorney General Tom Horne and the Republican caucus for the Arizona House of Representatives. She joined the Trump campaign in 2015. 

Grisham also faced legal troubles in Arizona while working for Horne and shortly after she joined the Trump campaign. She pleaded guilty to drunken-driving charges in 2014 and 2016. 

During her speech at the DNC, Grisham detailed her close relationship with the Trump family and explained her decision to resign from the White House in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. 

“I wasn’t just a Trump supporter. I was a true believer,” Grisham said.

Grisham displayed a text message on a large screen behind her, and told the crowd that she sent it to Melania Trump, asking the first lady to denounce violence on social media after Trump supporters stormed the building. Melania Trump replied “no,” according to Grisham. 

“I became the first senior staffer to resign that day. I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer,” Grisham said.

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Grisham also took aim at Trump’s behavior behind closed doors. Trump mocks his supporters in private and calls them “basement dwellers,” Grisham said, claiming that her former boss “has no fidelity to the truth.”