Stephanie Grisham, a White House press secretary under former President Donald Trump, said her ex-boss’ “chilling” Truth Social post made her “nervous” and declared that it should make other Trump critics feel similarly on Friday.
Grisham, who also served as a chief of staff to former First Lady Melania Trump, weighed in after the former president wrote “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!” on his social media platform.
“Well, I think it’s chilling. Legally, it doesn’t seem like it’s very smart. But how is that not intimidation? And, you know, what other people are going to take a message from that?” Grisham told CNN’s Brianna Keilar on Friday.
“As we have seen and heard, people really believe that Donald Trump sent them to the Capitol and people really felt like hours later when he said to stop, they listened.”
Trump’s post led to prosecutors calling for a protective order from a federal judge overseeing the former president’s 2020 election case late Friday. The order would restrict what the former president and his legal team could disclose to the general public about the case, the Associated Press noted.
The court filing from special counsel Jack Smith’s office claims that if Trump started issuing public posts with details and grand jury transcripts, it could lead to a “harmful chilling effect on witnesses or adversely affect the fair administration of justice in” the case.
Grisham went on to note that the post made her feel nervous before remarking on those who have spoken out against Trump, as well.
“Does someone have to get hurt before people take this kind of online intimidation seriously?” Grisham said.
“The people, and I know he’s pointing out the prosecutors, but you know as somebody who gets death threats every other day, it makes me nervous. It should make anybody who’s ever spoken out against him nervous. And that’s a lot of people.”
A Trump spokesperson, in a statement obtained by Reuters, wrote that his post “is the definition of political speech” and “was in response to the Rino, China-loving, dishonest special interest groups and super PAC’s.”