Melania Trump’s spokeswoman speaks out

Editor’s Note: Stephanie Grisham is first lady Melania Trump’s deputy chief of staff for communications. CNN — In yet another unnecessary attack on the first lady, CNN contributor Kate Anderson Brower, who purports to be an expert on the customs and norms of first ladies and yet has never met Melania Trump, wrote Thursday that Mrs. Trump “proved that she doesn’t understand what it means to be first lady.” Andrea Hanks/The White House This condescending opinion, apparently written in response to a single answer Mrs. Trump gave in a Fox News interview Wednesday, was published just hours after the first lady traveled to Children’s National hospital in Washington to read a Christmas story, visit sick children and thank the hardworking hospital staff. For Brower to claim that Mrs. Trump’s interview was “a lost opportunity to put attention on families of struggling Americans she’s met in her role as first lady” is to willfully ignore everything she has actually done to help and support children and families across the globe as a commitment to service she has consistently demonstrated over the past two years. When Brower claims Mrs. Trump has no understanding of what it means to be first lady, she intentionally ignores all the effort the first lady has put into fulfilling the traditional responsibilities of the role. Ms. Brower’s piece criticizing Mrs. Trump has this headline: “Melania shows she’s a Trump through and through.” At least she got that part right.