Melania Trump's popularity has fallen sharply over the past couple of months, according to a recent CNN poll. Photo / AP
Melania Trump's popularity has fallen sharply over the past couple of months, according to a recent CNN poll. Photo / AP
Melania Trump's right-hand woman has blasted the media over a fiery op-ed deemed an "unnecessary attack on the First Lady".
Stephanie Grisham, the First Lady's main spokeswoman, wrote her own opinion piece for CNN in response to what she called a "trivial poll" about Ms Trump's falling popularity with Americans.
It started when CNN journalist Kate Andersen Brower published an opinion piece called 'Melania shows she's a Trump through and through'.
Citing a new poll which found Melania's favourability has dropped 11 points since October — from 54 per cent to 43 per cent — Brower said: "We are getting to know Melania Trump more and more the longer her husband is in office, and it seems that many people are not liking what they see."
Melania Trump's main spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham has come to her defence in response to a scathing article about the First Lady. Photo / AP
The piece references a series of unfortunate incidents for the First Lady, including the now-infamous jacket she wore while visiting migrant children at the Texas-Mexico border, and comments she made in October about the #MeToo movement.
It also referred to a recent Fox News interview she gave, in which she said the hardest part about being First Lady was the "opportunists who are using my name".
"The entire moment was a lost opportunity to put attention on the families of struggling Americans she's met in her role as first lady," Brower wrote.
"All modern first ladies can relate to being frustrated with the press over their preoccupation with superficial things, including the way they cut their hair or what they choose to wear, but Melania has clouded the profound responsibility and honour of the position with her own personal resentment.
"I hope Melania realises soon that her own personal challenges are nothing compared to the incredible opportunity she has to make a difference and 'be best'."
President Donald Trump, joined by first lady Melania Trump, speaks during the Congressional Ball at the White House. Photo / AP
Grisham rarely writes opinion pieces. When The Washington Post recently contacted her for a profile piece, she declined, stating: "I feel strongly that I should never be the story."
But in this case, she issued a furious rebuke of Brower's story, deeming it "condescending".
"CNN has a dedicated reporter who covers Mrs Trump," she wrote for CNN. "But the media consistently ignores the first lady's work on behalf of the people of this country, and children in particular, in favour of more trivial matters."
Grisham dismissed the CNN poll on Melania's declining popularity as "trivial", accusing the journalist of "wilfully ignoring 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."
"The simple fact is that Mrs Trump deserves honest reporting and media coverage that focuses on the substance of her message: the importance of helping children grow up to be happy, healthy and socially responsible adults," she said.
"Hopefully, the media will eventually learn to celebrate a woman who, through all the noise, is able to hold steadfast to her mission and stay true to herself. Regardless, Melania Trump is proud to be the first lady of the United States and is proud to represent the American people."
First lady Melania Trump poses with an airman during a tour of Joint Base Langley in Hampton, Virginia. Photo / AP
Few have worked with the Trumps in the White House longer than Grisham.
According to The Washington Post, she served for nearly two years as communications director for the First Lady before being promoted to White House deputy chief of staff for communications a few weeks ago.
Nowadays, it's her job to put out fires for Melania wherever they may spring up, and rebuke negative media coverage.
White House officials Kellyanne Conway and Sarah Huckabee Sanders heaped praise on her, with the latter stating: "She has developed a great amount of trust from both the President and the First Lady, which is a pretty high commodity here. There aren't a lot of people who have a lot of regular interaction with both of them."
One of Melania's aides said Grisham was fundamentally concerned with steering public perception away from seeing the First Lady as disinterested in her role.
"The resistance wants the First Lady to be a victim, and she hates being seen that way," one of her aides told the Post. "Grisham makes clear that she is not."
