White House press secretary Stephanie Grisham claimed the outgoing Obama staff left behind negative notes, such as “you will fail” and other discouraging sentiments.
Grisham, 43, said during a radio interview Tuesday that as she arrived as the press secretary for first lady Melania Trump in early 2017, she and other staff discovered the notes in various parts of the White House. “Every office was filled with Obama books, and we had notes left behind that said ‘You will fail, you aren’t going to make it,'” she said on John Fredericks’ show. “In the press office, there was a big note taped to the door that said, ‘You will fail.'”
Several Obama White House employees denied the claims made by Grisham and said that anything they may have left behind did not include incendiary notes meant to derail the Trump administration. “I actually left an iPhone charger if anybody’s seen it, but no, nobody left unimaginative notes written at a sixth-grade level,” said Obama speechwriter Cody Keenan.
I actually left an iPhone charger if anybody’s seen it, but no, nobody left unimaginative notes written at a sixth-grade level. https://t.co/DeaTk5W6wk
— Cody Keenan (@codykeenan) November 19, 2019
Grisham’s predecessor as the first lady’s communications director Joanna Rosholm claimed she did not leave a negative smear but instead a letter of encouragement. “Welcome to the small family of White House Staffers, past and present,” Rosholm said in a letter posted to Twitter on Thursday, dated January 2017. “The bond we share transcends politics. I want you to know that I am always available if you have questions, just as Mrs. Bush’s staff was for us. No question is too big or too small.”
Rosholm also included a recommendation for snacks. “Basque [sic] in the honor of walking into this building each day — and if things get too tough, remember the chicken tenders and waffle fries at the Navy Mess are always a sure bet,” she said.
The note I left my East Wing successor, now @PressSec Stephanie Grisham. https://t.co/38mclNs0fE pic.twitter.com/vkNrXl32PZ
— Joanna/JoJo Rosholm (@jojorosholm) November 19, 2019
Grisham was promoted to White House press secretary in July, following the departure of Sarah Sanders. Following several claims that Grisham was misrepresenting the greeting she and other staff received as they entered their jobs in the Trump administration, she later clarified, “I was talking specifically (and honestly) about our experience in the lower press office – nowhere else,” she said. “I don’t know why everyone is so sensitive. At the time we saw it as kind of a prank, and something that always happened. We were so busy trying to learn where the bathrooms were and how to turn on the lights, it wasn’t that big of a deal.”
