House Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) is pushing back against a claim made in a new book about former First Lady Melania Trump, arguing it “never happened.”
Business Insider reported on the claim made in former White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham’s book, “I’ll Take Your Questions Now: What I Saw at the Trump White House.”
In her book, Grisham wrote Scalise and his family traveled to the White House for an unscheduled visit following his recovery from the 2017 shooting at a congressional baseball practice.
According to Grisham, the former first lady’s staff asked her if she wanted to visit with Scalise and his family.
“Her response was, ‘No, I already said hello,'” Grisham explained.
Melania Trump was seemingly referring to her and the former president’s visit to Scalise at the hospital during his recovery from the shooting, as the outlet notes.
Grisham continued, “Whenever the first lady said no to something, we would say to each other, ‘Well, she already said hello!'”
Scalise responded to the claim on Twitter on Monday, including a photo of him and his family visiting Trump and the former first lady at the White House.
“This is how the fake news media machine against President Trump and [Melania Trump] works. This never happened. My family went to visit the White House while I was still in the hospital and were graciously given a tour by President and Mrs. Trump,” Scalise wrote.
🧵 THREAD:
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 5, 2021
This is how the fake news media machine against President Trump and @MELANIATRUMP works. This never happened. My family went to visit the White House while I was still in the hospital and were graciously given a tour by President and Mrs. Trump. https://t.co/oqwIUebtNg pic.twitter.com/pzJmEq1G1w
He added, “This is another pathetic attempt by a disgraced former staffer to tell lies in order to sell books. If her publisher or a single outlet covering this story had done any fact checking, they would’ve learned it was fake. But they didn’t because it fits their fake narrative.”
Scalise argued the “fact they need to stoop so low to make up verifiably false stories about a shooting victim and his family to paint a false picture of the Trumps tells you everything you need to know about their credibility.”
The fact they need to stoop so low to make up verifiably false stories about a shooting victim and his family to paint a false picture of the Trumps tells you everything you need to know about their credibility.
— Steve Scalise (@SteveScalise) October 5, 2021
In a statement to Fox News, Grisham doubled down on her claim.
“I respect Steve Scalise and wouldn’t expect he’d know about a conversation that he was not party to,” she said.
She continued, “Perhaps he is conflating two separate events. Mrs. Trump chose not to greet him in the Blue Room after he was discharged form the hospital even though she was just upstairs. I found this to be disrespectful to Congressman Scalise and his family – his tweet does not contradict what I wrote in my book.”
Grisham’s book was published by Harper Collins on Tuesday.
