Stephanie Grisham, a spokesperson for first lady Melania Trump, is fighting back against persistent media vitriol laser-focused on Mrs. Trump.
Grisham laid out in a CNN op-ed a point-by-point rebuke of media slams against the first lady’s wardrobe worn while doing charity and public service work. She contrasted the criticism against the volumes of service activities Mrs. Trump has done as first lady.
She pointed to Trump’s planning of a state dinner with the President and first lady of France and numerous holiday events, work of restoration and preservation of the White House residence, welcoming of heads of state, visits to hospitals at home and abroad, time with immigrant children at detention facilities, visits to hurricane-affected states, partnership with FEMA for a public service announcement, comforting victims of several mass shootings, bringing attention to the urgency of the opioid crisis, and the Be Best platform campaign aimed at the multifaceted well-being of children.
“Of course, absurdity abounds in the media’s coverage of our first lady,” wrote Grisham. “Reports focus on the trivial and superficial, rather than the deeper issues facing our country that she has tirelessly worked to address.”
Grisham repeatedly pointed out specific instances when the media seized on opportunities to eviscerate the first lady’s fashion choices as she was focused on issues including bringing attention to and comforting hurricane victims or promoting children’s wellbeing at home and abroad.
She pointed to CNN contributor Kate Brower’s recent condescension of Mrs. Trump, which claimed Trump in a recent interview “proved that she doesn’t understand what it means to be first lady.” Brower assailed the first lady for speaking out about media attacks as a top challenge of her position.
Some media outlets preemptively slammed Mrs. Trump for wearing stilettos to get on a plane headed to a hurricane disaster area, failing to hold off to see that she changed to sneakers while on the plane before touring the hurricane-ravaged region.
“Whenever Mrs. Trump sits down for interviews, she inevitably gets attacked for her honest answers,” Grisham wrote. “I could continue with examples, but will inevitably be attacked for having a ‘woe-is-me attitude’ — it couldn’t possibly be that we are defending ourselves.” She went on: “The simple fact is that Mrs. Trump deserves honest reporting and media coverage that focuses on the substance of her message: the importance of helping children grow up to be happy, healthy and socially responsible adults.”
Grisham emphasized first lady Trump’s resolve to “continue to demonstrate her commitment to helping children and advancing the causes she is passionate about,” despite the attacks against her. The spokeswoman called on the media to “report fairly, accurately and without bias” as they produce the first draft of written history. She expressed hope that “the media will eventually learn to celebrate a woman who, through all the noise, is able to hold steadfast to her mission and stay true to herself.”
The spokeswoman also appeared on Fox and Friends Monday morning speaking out against media disdain for the first lady. She criticized Brower for getting her facts wrong on Trump’s ability to properly execute the responsibility of first lady of the United States.
Grisham reinforced during the Monday morning interview that first lady Trump will continue to go out and promote Be Best and serve in her capacity as the first lady.
Michelle Moons is a White House Correspondent for Breitbart News — follow on Twitter @MichelleDiana and Facebook
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