In a recent revelation, Stephanie Grisham, a former White House press secretary, has alleged that former President Donald Trump knowingly conveyed false information to his supporters, secure in the knowledge that they would still believe him.
What Happened: As The Hill reported, Grisham accused Trump, while speaking to CNN’s Jim Acosta, of knowingly spreading misinformation.
“He knows he’s lying. He used to tell me when I was press secretary, ‘Go out there and say this.’ And if it was false, he would say, ‘It doesn’t matter, Stephanie. Just say it over and over and over again, people will believe it.’ He knows his base believes in him,” she claimed.
Grisham served as press secretary from July 2019 to April 2020 and then as the chief of staff for Melania Trump, resigning after the Capitol riots in January 2021. Since leaving, she has been vocal about her time in the administration.
She believes that Trump’s strategy might backfire in the general election.
“I think that independents and center-leaning Republicans are not going to be buying this. They’re much smarter than that, and so I think that he’s gonna get in trouble in the general with these kinds of lies,” she said.
Why It Matters: Grisham’s comments come after a tumultuous series of events in Trump’s post-presidential life, including his arraignment for attempting to overturn the 2020 election. Grisham had previously expressed concern over Trump’s aggressive rhetoric, calling it “chilling.’
Trump’s influence on his base has been a subject of intense scrutiny, with many questioning the extent to which his statements affect their beliefs.
Image via Shutterstock
Engineered by
Benzinga Neuro, Edited by
Pooja Rajkumari
The GPT-4-based Benzinga Neuro content generation system exploits the
extensive Benzinga Ecosystem, including native data, APIs, and more to
create comprehensive and timely stories for you.
Learn more.
Image and article originally from www.benzinga.com. Read the original article here.