Donald Trump “uses” people, said Stephanie Grisham, commenting on the former president’s harsh words against Kayleigh McEnany, her successor in the White House.
Speaking to CNN’s Jim Acosta on Sunday, the former White House press secretary said Mr Trump’s derogatory remarks against Ms McEnany were not surprising.
“This is what he does,” Ms Grisham said. “He uses you until there is no use for you anymore, or until you dare to say something that could possibly be construed against him.”
Ms Grisham, who served as press secretary in 2019, wrote a scathing memoir of her time in the White House in 2021, in which she talked about the former president’s “terrifying temper” among other shocking revelations.
Ms Grisham also acknowledged Ms McEnany’s loyalty to Mr Trump during her tenure.
“You know this is going to happen to you eventually. When he has no use for you, you’re going to be gone,” Ms Grisham said.
The controversy arose after Ms McEnany, now a co-host of Fox News’ Outnumbered show, mentioned on air that Mr Trump was polling 25 points ahead of Florida governor Ron DeSantis in Iowa.
Mr Trump took to his Truth Social platform on 30 May to chastise her by claiming he was actually leading by 34 points and misspelling the word “milquetoast”, that means a timid or feeble person, as “milktoast” in the process.
“Kayleigh ‘Milktoast’ [sic] McEnany just gave out the wrong poll numbers on FoxNews [sic],” Mr Trump wrote. “I am 34 points up on DeSanctimonious, not 25 up. While 25 is great, it’s not 34.”
“She knew the number was corrected upwards by the group that did the poll. The RINOS [Republican in name only] & Globalists can have her,” he wrote. “FoxNews [sic] should only use REAL Stars!!!”
Ms Grisham also took to Twitter to further express her views, warning others of Trump's behaviour.
“He. WILL. Turn. On. You,” she wrote. “There is only loyalty to HIM – not the country, the constitution, his constituents, or anything/anyone else.”
Many conservatives on Twitter rallied to defend Ms McEnany, highlighting her loyalty to Mr Trump as his former press secretary.
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade praised Ms McEnany, stating, “Attacking Kayleigh McEnany is insane.”
“She was one of the best press secretaries ever,” Kilmeade said.
Jenna Ellis, a former Trump legal adviser, wrote: “I will simply leave this here for when people ask why I and *many* others didn’t return for 2024.”
Other voices joined the chorus of support for Ms McEnany, including political commentator Brit Hume and Matt Wolking, Mr Trump’s former deputy director of communications.
Mr Hume called Trump's behaviour “immature”, while Mr Wolking described Ms McEnany as someone who “slayed the fake news hoaxers and the liberal media activists day in and day out for years”.
