Stephanie Grisham worked briefly as Donald Trump's press secretary, but she spent the majority of her time working with first lady Melania Trump's office. She was there on Jan. 6 when the U.S. Capitol came under siege by MAGA fans who tried to stop Congress' certification of 2020 presidential electoral votes.
On the weekend of the third anniversary, CNN's Jim Acosta couldn't help but notice the new Republican Party talking point to referring to those in prison for their crimes on Jan. 6 as "hostages" rather than convicts. Grisham suspected it's a new talking point that Republicans are being urged to use to refer to rioters.
"I have a feeling we're going to hear the word hostages more which is a very perplexing word to choose for me," Grisham said.
Read More: A neuroscientist explains how Donald Trump exploits the minds of conspiracy theorists
She asked what it would be like if the script was "flipped."
"These are people who went to the capitol, broke windows, broke in, had Democrats and again Republicans scared for their lives," she said. "Police officers were injured. People died that day."
She asked what would happen, hypothetically, if the script were flipped.
"And I would just think, you know, what if [Joe] Biden encouraged people — which I am not saying he should do — I want to be very clear," Grisham prefaced with a hefty disclaimer. "What if Biden encouraged people to go to Mar-a-Lago or to Republican congressional offices and they broke windows and broke into Mar-a-Lago and took things and stole things and had people scared for their lives?"
She asked what Republicans would be calling those people.
"I wonder if the former president would be calling those people, you know, hostages after they were convicted in a court of law, as they should be if that were something that happened?" she asked.
MSNBC commentator Tristan Snell pointed out on Saturday that after three years, questions remain: Who planted the pipe bombs, who disabled Vice President Mike Pence's key card, who removed the panic buttons, and who shared the location of the non-reinforced windows in the building?
On Jan. 6, out of the blue, Pence's team was locked out of their offices. So while the Capitol was under attack, they had nowhere to hide, while other staff in the Capitol were crouched in locked offices. While there is speculation about who could have cut the keycard access, nothing has been revealed publicly.
As for the panic buttons, that comment comes from the staff of Rep. Ayanna Pressley's (D-MA), which spoke to The Boston Globe on Jan. 13.
"As people rushed out of other buildings on the Capitol grounds, staffers in Pressley’s office barricaded the entrance with furniture and water jugs that had piled up during the pandemic," said the report. Staffer Sarah Groh "pulled out gas masks and looked for the special panic buttons in the office."
“Every panic button in my office had been torn out — the whole unit,” Groh said. The report explained "they could come up with no rationale as to why. She had used them before and hadn’t switched offices since then. As they were escorted to several different secure locations, Groh and Pressley and her husband tried to remain calm and vigilant — not only of rioters but of officers they did not know or trust, she said."
Finally, as Snell points out, two windows and two doors were targeted by rioters on Jan. 6. They were among very few that weren't reinforced.
"I don't believe in this kind of luck," wrote Esquire's Charlie Pierce when the information became known.
As the Los Angeles Times explained:
"The majority of the Capitol’s 658 single-pane windows were quietly upgraded during a 2017-19 renovation of the historic building. The original wooden frames and glass were covered with a second metal frame containing bomb-resistant glass."
See the clip of Stephanie Grisham in the video below or at the link here.
Would they be 'hostages' if they broke into Mar-a-Lago: Ex-Trump aide on Jan. 6 rioterswww.youtube.com
