Former President Donald Trump‘s apparent threat to “come after” those who “go after” him is “chilling,” according to Stephanie Grisham, his former White House press secretary.
On Friday, just one day after Trump pleaded not guilty to January 6-related criminal charges at an arraignment hearing in Washington, D.C., the former president informed his followers on Truth Social that, “IF YOU GO AFTER ME, I’M COMING AFTER YOU!”
Multiple legal experts have suggested that the post could land Trump in hot water with the judge presiding over his case, including the possibility that he could be taken into custody over potentially having violated the conditions of his bond.
During the former president’s arraignment in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, U.S. Magistrate Judge Moxila Upadhyaya told Trump that it’s a crime “to threaten or attempt to bribe a witness or any other person who may have information about your case, or to retaliate against anyone for providing information about your case to the prosecution.” Trump responded that he understood.
Grisham, who has been estranged from the ex-president since resigning from his administration on the night of the January 6 attack, said during a CNN interview a short time later that the post had made her personally “nervous.”
Chip Somodevilla
“I think it’s chilling,” Grisham told host Brianna Keilar. “You know, legally it doesn’t seem like it’s very smart. But how is that not intimidation? And you know, what other people are going to take a message from that?”
“Does someone have to get hurt before people take this kind of online intimidation seriously?” she continued. “As somebody who gets death threats every other day, it makes me nervous. It should make anybody who’s ever spoken out against him nervous. And that’s a lot of people.”
Newsweek reached out for comment to Trump’s office and his attorneys Todd Blanche and John Lauro via email on Friday evening.
Trump, who has pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal and state felony charges this year and claims to be the “persecuted” victim of a “witch hunt,” has repeatedly faced criticism for making alleged threats suggesting that he is owed retribution for his legal woes.
Others who criticized Trump’s post on Friday included former U.S. Attorney Joyce Vance, who said that the post went beyond “free speech” and that Trump should be forced to “explain it to the judge.”
“Free speech is one thing, but this is over the line,” Vance wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “As a prosecutor, I’d be sorely tempted to make a motion to revoke Trump’s pre-trial bond & put him in custody. Let him explain it to the judge.”
Grisham became a critic of the former president not long after leaving his administration. Her 2021 memoir, I’ll Take Your Questions Now, contains several unflattering allegations about the Trump White House, including claims that the former president repeatedly made sexist comments and encouraged a culture of lying.
Former first lady Melania Trump, whom Grisham served under as chief of staff following her stint as press secretary, called Grisham a “deceitful and troubled individual” in response to the memoir’s publication.