‘Defending the indefensible’: Stephanie Grisham slammed for her stunning defense of Trump’s smear of Pelosi and Schumer

On Monday, President Donald Trump retweeted an anti-Islam post that depicted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi wearing hijab and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer wearing Iranian-style headwear. The depiction, which also depicted an Iranian flag, was meant to defame Pelosi and Schumer as sympathetic to the Shiite fundamentalist government in Iran — and White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham is defending Trump’s retweet.

On Twitter, CNN’s Kaitlan Collins reported, “Wow. Asked why Trump retweeted a photoshopped image of Schumer & Pelosi wearing a turban & head scarf w/ Iranian flag, Stephanie Grisham attempts to explain by saying he was ‘making clear’ Democrats are ‘parroting Iranian talking points & almost taking the side of terrorists.’”

Many Democrats have been critical of the January 3 killing of Iranian military leader Qasem Soleimani, arguing that it will add to the instability in the Middle East. And Trumpistas have been conflating opposition to the killing with sympathy for the Iranian regime.

Susan Rice, former national security adviser under President Barack Obama, has been highly critical of the killing of Soleimani — arguing that the killing has forced the U.S. to halt its anti-terrorist campaign against ISIS (Islamic State, Iraq and Syria) in Iraq.

Hend Amry, a Libyan-American writer, lambasted the anti-Islam depiction that Trump retweeted, writing, “This absolutely must be condemned by congressional lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.”

Ryan J. Suto, policy counsel for for the Arab American Institute, tweeted, “Trump is again using anti-Muslim and anti-Iranian sentiment to attack Democrats…. This isn’t surprising, and it isn’t new. But we still need to call it wrong every time it happens.”