Alex Wong/Getty From left to right: Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump
A longtime aide in President Donald Trump’s administration said one of her “biggest non-public regrets” was her role in allowing Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump to lead some of the administration’s early responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Stephanie Grisham, who served as Trump’s press secretary and worked for years for former first-time Melania Trump, writes in detail in her new testimony about the day the president addressed the country from the Oval Office on March 11, 2020.
The elaboration of the plans and the execution of this speech, according to Grisham, is a “total accumulation —. “
“Standing up to the country is a serious thing and, as far as possible, you want plenty of time to prepare well, unless, of course, you’re in the Trump White House, where everything is like a burning clown car. running at full speed in a warehouse full of fireworks,” Grisham writes in his book, I’ll Take Your Questions Now, which comes out next week and an excerpt of which was published Friday in Politico.
(The book, like previous Critical White House memoirs, has already been rejected by the Trumps and some of Grisham’s former colleagues who say it rephrases occasions in their favor. )
Ivanka, 39, and Kushner, 40, either served in their father’s administration as senior advisers to the president, with Trump’s support, had broad responsibilities and many criticisms. Grisham writes that “we all came here to call Jared and Ivanka “the inmates” because they represented in our minds a hateful know-it-all. “
She writes that in a packed coronavirus task force assembly that included the president, Vice President Mike Pence, Dr. Anthony Fauci, Dr. Anthony Fauci. Deborah Birx and others, Ivanka insisted in the televised speech, that she would take a stand that night.
Grisham viewed Ivanka’s qualifications with skepticism, he writes.
Alex Wong/Getty Images Stephanie Grisham
“Women’s rights/small businesses/crisis communications/and now the Covid expert, was repeating, ‘There’s an oval direction,'” Grisham writes. don’t you agree?'”
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Grisham writes that he asked for main points about the content of the proposed speech, but got main points from Ivanka, Kushner or Hope Hicks, a former communications director who returned to the White House in 2020 as an adviser to the president.
“One of my other biggest non-public regrets is that I didn’t have the courage to denounce Jared, Ivanka and Hope about the potential risks of tackling the country without a Covid reaction strategy in place, and what a disservice it can be from the country and the president. “
A spokeswoman for Ivanka did not comment on the most recent news from Grisham’s book, however, a Kushner source defended the Trump administration’s reaction to the pandemic and told PEOPLE, “The paintings speak for themselves. We have a vaccine, we don’t have anyone who wants a ventilator that didn’t have one. “
The source also maintains that Kushner is paying attention to what Grisham has to say.
“It’s unhappy that this is what she gets from her service time and that the way to capitalize on her time in government is to write a book,” the source said, adding of the book’s publication on Tuesday: “It’s not aimed at that, Ivanka is not aimed at that. “
Samir Hussein / WireImage
At a follow-up assembly to the main points of the speech, Grisham writes in his book, Kushner “called for each and every movement” despite the presence of the vice president who also headed the task force. It was disrespectful, and I felt embarrassed and disgusted,” Grisham wrote.
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Of the president’s daughter, Grisham said, “Ivanka also did it “my father” wants it and “my father” thinks about this routine, which makes staff members argue a contrary point of view.
That evening, the president delivered his speech, informing the country of his goal of banning 30-day travel for non-Americans from much of Europe, as well as emergency assistance for those affected by the economic effect of the virus.
“That night’s speech contained a number of inaccuracies and sloppy wording, some due to the fact that the president stumbled upon some phrases, which sowed confusion,” Grisham wrote.
President Donald Trump speaks with White House senior adviser Jared Kushner, left, in the Oval Office in Washington, D. C. , Friday, April 21, 2017. With his tweets and his bravery, Trump is making his mark on the presidency in his first hundred days He flouted the institution’s conventions by maintaining his business, hire members of the family circle as advisors and refuse to publish their tax returns. He tested classical political wisdom by avoiding travel, church, transparency, discipline, coherence, and decorum. The presidency also has an effect on Trump, rarely prompting him to play the role of classic president (AP photo/Andrew Harnik).
Describing the consequences, Grisham says other people working in federal agencies began calling and asking for explanations or corrections to speech and that reporters were undercover in their workplace when the media began reporting their differences.
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“Of course, it’s our problem, not Jared’s, Ivanka’s or Hope’s,” Grisham writes. “No, they were in the dining room of the Oval Office, the same old Trump meeting place, congratulating each other and telling the president how wonderful he was. “
Scheduled for release on Tuesday, Grisham’s eBook includes equally colorful anecdotes and memorabilia from her time as press secretary for the first girl (before moving to the West Wing) and as a leader starting in April 2020.
Grisham resigned from management on January 6 after the attack on the United States Capitol.
In previous statements, the former president and the first girl criticized Grisham as an assistant and said he was motivated through selfishness.
A spokesman for Mrs Trump said: “The purpose of this e-book is obvious. It’s an attempt to redeem herself after poor functionality as a press secretary, failed non-public relations, and a habit that doesn’t work in the White House. Through falsehood and betrayal, she seeks. “to gain relevance and cash at Ms. Trump’s expense. “
* With report via ADAM CARLSON