White House spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham slammed Republican consultant Rick Wilson for suggesting that first lady Melania Trump should contract the coronavirus.
Grisham, who also serves as the spokeswoman for the first lady, appeared on Fox News on Sunday and was asked to respond to the comment from Wilson, a Trump critic and frequent CNN guest, and said the network should refuse to have Wilson on anymore.
“I think it shows what a small fraction of a man he is,” the press secretary said, later adding, “The fact that he did that, I really do hope that the particular cable network that he goes on, I hope that Don Lemon especially, will insist on not having him on anymore.”
Wilson shared a CNN article on Twitter on Wednesday about the first lady’s intention to appear in public service announcements to inform people about the coronavirus. The anti-Trump commentator shared the story with the caption “#BeInfected,” playing off the name of the first lady’s “Be Best” campaign on children’s issues.
#BeInfected https://t.co/TZD35uaEvq
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) March 19, 2020
His tweet followed Lemon and Wilson facing criticism in late January after the latter mocked supporters of President Trump as unintelligent while Lemon fought to contain his laughter. Also on the panel was New York Times columnist and CNN contributor Wajahat Ali to discuss a feud between Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and NPR, but Wilson used the topic to pivot to an attack on Trump supporters.
“[Pompeo] also knows deep in his heart that Donald Trump couldn’t find Ukraine on a map if you had the letter ‘U’ and a picture of an actual, physical crane next to it,” Wilson said, prompting laughs from Lemon. “He knows that this is, you know, an administration defined by ignorance of the world. And so, that’s partly him playing to their base and playing to their audience. You know, the credulous boomer rube demo that backs Donald Trump.”
Lemon later apologized for the moment on his show, saying that he did not hear everything that Wilson had said.
