CHICAGO — Trump White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham will speak at the Democratic National Convention this week, one of several Republican voices meant to highlight the “extremism” of Donald Trump.
“I never thought I’d be speaking at a Democratic convention. But, after seeing firsthand who Donald Trump really is, and the threat he poses to our country, I feel very strongly about speaking out,” Grisham said in an exclusive statement to NBC News.
Grisham was a press aide during Trump’s 2016 campaign, before she became the chief of staff and press secretary for first lady Melania Trump. Grisham then became White House press secretary briefly in 2019 and moved to a communications director role before she left the administration.
Grisham resigned hours after Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. She later spoke to the congressional committees that investigated the attack and said she “cooperated fully.”
In an interview with NBC News’ “Meet the Press” in October 2021, Grisham said that she had tried to resign “a couple of times” previously but that Melania Trump talked her out of it.
“Jan. 6, of course, was my breaking point,” she said at the time. “And I was really proud that I was, well, the first in the administration to resign.”
She said in her statement to NBC News, “While I don’t agree with Vice President Harris on everything, I am proud to be supporting her because I know she will defend our freedoms and represent our nation with honesty and integrity.”
Other Republicans are expected to share a similar message throughout the convention, including former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, of Illinois, who is scheduled to speak Thursday.
“While Donald Trump continues to attack moderates and independents, the Harris-Walz campaign has made clear that there is a place in our coalition for voters who reject the extremism of Donald Trump and want to protect our democracy,” a Harris campaign official said.
When she speaks at the convention, Grisham is expected to urge her fellow Republicans to “step up and join me” in supporting Harris “to ensure Donald Trump never returns to the White House,” the official said.
The Biden re-election team started to recruit Republican leaders to endorse its cause, and the Harris campaign has continued that effort.
“We will be putting patriotic Republicans front and center in our convention programming to explain, in their own words, why they are putting country first and supporting Vice President Harris,” Austin Weatherford, the campaign’s national Republican engagement director, said in a statement to NBC News.
The Democratic campaign launched its “Republicans for Harris” program this month to reach more moderate and independent voters who may have supported Trump in the past.
It has put a specific emphasis on highlighting Project 2025, a conservative think tank’s blueprint for a second Trump term. In recent weeks, Trump and his allies have sought to distance themselves from the document.
So far, the Harris campaign has rolled out multiple endorsements from Republican leaders, and it will continue to invest in paid media to engage potentially critical swing-state voters, building on the seven-figure sum already spent, officials said.
It also plans to keep producing direct-to-camera testimonials featuring GOP voices to use in grassroots-driven digital campaigns.
Members of the Harris team are constantly in touch with Republicans and right-leaning organizations that could join the effort, and they will work behind the scenes to secure additional support from Republicans in the final 80 days of the campaign, two Harris campaign officials said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
