There have been a number of former associates and supporters of Donald Trump who have, since he left the White House, changed their tune.

Some of them showed signs of it before they even departed company with the former president. Some were long-time backers who ended up being fired by the mercurial leader. And some just finally saw the error of their ways.

One of the loudest voices in that last camp is Stephanie Grisham.

During her time as Donald Trump’s press secretary, she was what she referred to herself as a “true believer.” But even if the small things she’s said about Trump since he was replaced by Joe Biden have been on the mark, nothing compares to actually speaking at the Democratic National Convention.

Seriously. Nothing comes close to not just turning on your boss, but trash-talking him in front of his enemies.

That’s just what she did Tuesday night, as she described her “political evolution” to the DNC attendees. Oh, they may have been skeptical at first. Anyone who admits that they once admired and supported a man who racked up more than 10,000 documented lies in half a term has to be looked at differently.

But when she opened up to the audience, she told them that what changed her mind was actually seeing the conniving president behind closed doors. She was privy to intimate conversations, she said, and was part of his inner circle. She even went on major holidays with him.

All of that leads to people letting down their guard — not that Trump has much of a filter at all — around people they think it’s safe to reveal themselves to.

“I saw him when the cameras were off, behind closed doors. Trump mocks his supporters. He calls them basement dwellers,” she told the crowd in Chicago. “He used to tell me, ‘It doesn’t matter what you say, Stephanie — say it enough and people will believe you.’ But it does matter — what you say matters, and what you don’t say matters.”

That can’t even be CLOSE to the worst things he’s said, given what we’ve heard from other accounts of him in private. Others have said he’s been racist, thrown tantrums, even tossed food at the wall when he was angry.

She even recounted a time during the height of the COVID pandemic when he visited a hospital where people were dying in the ICU: “He was mad that the cameras were not watching him. He has no empathy, no morals and no fidelity to the truth.”

But Stephanie’s resignation actually came after an experience with former First Lady Melania Trump. She said she asked Melania during the January 6 insurrection if she would tweet out to her followers that peaceful protest was fine, but “there’s no place for lawlessness or violence.”

The answer was stunning.

“She replied with one word: ‘No,'” Grisham said. “I became the first senior staffer to resign that day. I couldn’t be part of the insanity any longer. In fact, I had a resignation letter written out with some very specific points in it that I was ready to hand over at any moment. Jan. 6, of course, was my breaking point. And I was really proud that I was, well, the first in the administration to resign.”

As well you should be, Stephanie. It takes a strong person to admit a mistake, and an even stronger one to take action to correct that mistake.

But it takes a really strong person to stand in front of the people who were once your enemies — according to the team you were on at the time — and basically ask for forgiveness by whole-heartedly endorsing the good guys.

Former Trump WH Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham tells the DNC that Trump "mocks his supporters" and calls them "basement dwellers" behind closed doors. pic.twitter.com/XPxELfypCt

— nikki mccann ramírez (@NikkiMcR) August 20, 2024