Former White House Press Secretary Told Jan. 6 Committee That Trump Said Capitol Rioters 'Looked Very Trashy'
Alex Wong/Getty Images Stephanie Grisham
While he's since expressed solidarity and support for the mob of rioters who stormed the U.S. Capitol on his behalf in January 2021, Donald Trump was allegedly concerned with the optics of how his own supporters looked while the riot was ongoing.
That's according to a newly released interview from the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots, who spoke with former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham on May 18.
Grisham told the committee that she heard from "several people in the West Wing" that, as the riots began to unfold and footage began to be shared on television, Trump was taking it in from the White House, and making comments "that these people looked very trashy."
"I don't know if he expected them to be wearing full suits of like Roman armor and that would have made them not trashy," she added, "But he did feel they looked trashy, but he loved how they were fighting for him."
"I heard from several people in the West Wing, more on the military aide or Secret Service side, and then a couple just people, but that he was sitting in the dining room, and he was just watching it all unfold, and that a couple of his comments – some of his comments were that these people looked very trashy, but also look at what fighters they were," Grisham told the committee.
She continued: "He was kind of reveling in the fact that these people were fighting for him. But he also didn't like how they looked."
Samuel Corum/Getty Rioters at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021
Grisham first worked as First Lady Melania Trump's press secretary before taking over as White House press secretary and communications director in July 2019. She resigned that post in April 2020, leaving the West Wing to again work with the first lady after clashing with Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, she said in her interview.
Speaking to the committee, Grisham said Melania Trump "didn't trust" a lot of her husband's closest allies, including his own chief of staff, Meadows, as well as the more controversial members of his legal team who made false claims about the 2020 election.
"She didn't trust Mark Meadows, was what she told me," Grisham said in her interview. "She was very angry with him about his treatment and the things he was doing to me personally. She was very wary of Giuliani, Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis, a lot of the people who were coming up into the residence and talking to the president."
Grisham resigned from the Trump White House on Jan. 6, hours after the attack on the U.S. Capitol with only days remaining in Trump's term. Her remarks are among the latest trove of testimonies and interviews to be released by the committee, which recently recommended that the Department of Justice lay four criminal charges against the former president, including conspiracy to defraud the government and inciting an insurrection.
RELATED: Cassidy Hutchinson's Full Bombshell Testimony Released: 'They Will Ruin My Life, Mom'
In the years since the riots, Trump has claimed that those imprisoned as a result of their involvement have been treated "unfairly."
In a September radio interview, Trump said that if he were to be elected president again, he would "be looking very, very strongly about pardons, full pardons" for those arrested in the riots.
Reuters reports that elsewhere in that same interview, Trump said he is "financially supporting" some of the rioters facing legal consequences due to their involvement, though he did not offer specifics.
"I am financially supporting people that are incredible and they were in my office actually two days ago. It's very much on my mind. It's a disgrace what they've done to them," he said.
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Trump has consistently embraced the extremism expressed by those who participated in the Capitol riots, which ended in the death of one Capitol Police Officer who died after being beaten by the rioters. Several other officers were also beaten, some sustaining life-threatening injuries.
