Former first lady Melania Trump reportedly knew about the January 6 riot earlier than previously thought, and refused to make a public statement denouncing it minutes after supporters of her husband broke into the US Capitol building.
She instead prepared for a photo shoot with a rug she selected, according to an excerpt from former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham's new novel released Monday, promised to be a bombshell tell-all from the only person to serve as a top aide in both the Trump administration's West and East Wings.
At 1:25 p.m. that day, shortly after MAGA rioters breached the Capitol, she sent Melania a text asking if she wanted to condemn violent demonstrations, Grisham writes in the excerpt obtained by Politico.
'Do you want to tweet that peaceful protests are the right of every American, but there is no place for lawlessness and violence?' she asked.
'No.' Melania replied a minute later.
Grisham said the response 'broke' her. She quit the White House soon after in protest.
Grisham said Melania Trump's refusal to condemn the violence at the Capitol 'broke' her. She resigned from the White House in protest after the events of January 6
She was serving as the first lady's chief of staff at the time.
The former Trump family confidante said her opinion of her once-good friend shifted to see her more as 'the doomed French queen' Marie Antoinette - 'Dismissive. Defeated. Detached.'
The timing of Grisham's text to Melania also seems to call the White House's timeline of events that day into question.
An hour later on January 6 at 2:24 p.m., former President Donald Trump lambasted his Vice President Mike Pence on Twitter, claiming he 'didn't have the courage to do what should have been done to protest our Country and our Constitution.'
Meanwhile, angry Trump supporters were chanting 'Hang Mike Pence' in the halls and outside.
Security video from that day shows Pence and his family being rushed out of the Capitol just two minutes later.
But the White House claimed Trump wasn't aware Pence was in danger.
Grisham's account seems to contradict the White House's claims that former President Donald Trump did not know Vice President Mike Pence was in danger an hour later when he posted a tweet criticizing him
Grisham's memoir, titled 'I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw in The Trump White House,' will be published on October 5 by Harper Collins.
Despite the novel's name Grisham did not give a single press conference in her eight-month tenure as White House press secretary.
Grisham also writes she was 'shocked' that Melania shared the former president's view the 2020 election was stolen.
The book will be published October 5
'Something bad happened,' Melania told her in regards to the election, and allegedly refused to listen to Grisham's denials of a grand conspiracy to boot Trump from office.
Melania finally released a statement condemning the Capitol riot on January 11.
'I implore people to stop the
