Ric Grenell and Women

Grenell Has Made Sexist Remarks About Women

Grenell Has Made Sexist Remarks About Women

Grenell Said Rachel Maddow “Needs To Take A Breath And Put On A Necklace.” According to the Huffington Post, “Grenell has also made disparaging comments about women in the media. He suggested that MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow looks exactly like Justin Bieber, and in another tweet, suggested that ‘Rachel maddow needs to take a breath and put on a necklace.’” [Huffington Post, 11/15/16]

Grenell Made Sexist Remarks About Hillary Clinton, Michelle Obama, And Callista Gingrich. According to the Huffington Post, “In another tweet, Grenell wrote that ‘Hillary is starting to look liek Madeline [sic] Albright.’ He discussed First Lady Michelle Obama working out and ‘sweating on the East Room carpet.’ He also asked whether Callista Gingrich’s ‘hair snaps on,’ and on another occasion, commented how Gingrich’s third wife ‘stands there like she is wife #1.’ Politico flagged more examples and noted Grenell’s ‘old pastime’ of ‘ridiculing the Gingriches.’” [Huffington Post, 4/24/12]

Grenell Deleted More Than 800 Sexist Tweets While Working On The Romney Campaign. According to the Huffington Post, “Richard Grenell, a former Bush administration official who joined the Romney campaign Thursday as national security and foreign policy spokesman, appears to have deleted more than 800 of his past tweets following scrutiny over numerous swipes aimed at the media, prominent Democratic women and the Gingriches. Grenell also apparently took down his personal site, which featured writing on politics, foreign affairs and the media.” [Huffington Post, 4/24/12]

Ric Grenell and January 6 and Democracy

Grenell Downplayed The Severity Of The January 6th Insurrection

Grenell Downplayed The Severity Of The January 6th Insurrection 

Grenell Mockingly Said January 6th Was Terrible Because Of Trump’s Twitter Suspension. According to Newsweek, “Richard Grenell, the former Acting Director of National Intelligence, said on Thursday that January 6 was ‘terrible’ because former president Donald Trump was permanently banned from Twitter. ‘January 6 was a terrible day because it’s the day big tech and the media kicked [former] president Trump off Twitter and silenced his voice. That was a day that was an attack on our democracy,’ Grenell said during a TV appearance on Newsmax on the anniversary of the Capitol attack. The former president was actually banned from Twitter on January 8, two days after the riot, according to a statement from the social media giant.” [Newsweek, 1/6/22]

Grenell Made Baseless Claims Of Illegal Voting

Grenell Made Baseless Claim Of Illegal Votes in Nevada

Grenell Made Baseless Claim Of Illegal Votes in Nevada. According to KSNV, “The re-election campaign for President Donald Trump says it will file a lawsuit in federal court alleging Clark County is counting ‘illegal votes’ in the general election, though officials did not provide any evidence to support their claims. Nevada campaign co-chair Adam Laxalt, former Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell, and American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp spoke at a press conference outside the Clark County Elections Department facility in North Las Vegas. The campaign officials alleged that they couldn’t observe the counting process and that thousands of “illegal votes” were cast and being counted, including from people who were deceased or had moved out of state. Laxalt said they would ask for an injunction to ‘stop the counting of illegal votes.’” [KDNV, 11/5/20]

• Grenell Ran Away From A Reporter Who Asked For Evidence For The Claim. According to the Daily Beast, “Former Acting Director of National Intelligence Ric Grenell on Thursday ran away from a reporter when pressed to provide any evidence for the Trump campaign’s claims that thousands of illegitimate ballots have been cast in Nevada.” [Daily Beast, 11/5/20]

Ric Grenell and Anti-Democratic Leaders

Grenell Cultivated Relationships With Anti-Democratic Leaders

Grenell Supported And Met With Guatemalan Election Deniers

Grenell Circulated Unproven Claims Of Election Fraud About Guatemala’s Presidential Election. According to the Washington Post, “After an anti-corruption crusader unexpectedly won last year’s presidential election in Guatemala, democracy teetered on the edge in the Central American country. Amid law enforcement raids on election offices and threats of violence, the Biden Administration worked feverishly to lay the groundwork for a peaceful transfer of power […] That same day, Grenell blasted the moves as politically motivated and circulated unproven claims of election fraud made by the nation’s attorney general, who was previously restricted from visiting the United States after the State Department cited her for corruption and obstructing investigations.” [Washington Post, 3/28/24]

Grenell Met With Liga Pro Patria, A Right-Wing Group Who Tried To Block Guatemala’s Presidential Inauguration. According to the Washington Post, “Grenell was in Guatemala City by Jan. 11, four days before Arévalo’s inauguration. He met that evening with leaders of a right-wing group, Liga Pro Patria, which had recently tried to block Arévalo’s inauguration in court. Among the activists in a photo of the meeting posted online was Steve Hecht, a political website editor in the group, who said in an interview that Liga Pro Patria invited Grenell to Guatemala to seek the backing of a powerful messenger allied with a former U.S. president.” [Washington Post, 3/28/24]

Grenell Met With Several Other Leaders, Using The Meetings To Denigrate The Current Administration

Grenell Partied With Russia-Connected Authoritarian-Leaning Serbian Finance Minister. According to the Washington Post, “At times, that affinity has brought him close to officials tied to the Kremlin. Grenell partied at a cabaret club in Belgrade in 2021 with Serbia’s finance minister, a close ally of President Aleksandar Vucic, who has faced scrutiny in the United States for his authoritarian leanings and connections to Russia.” [Washington Post, 3/28/24]

Grenell Used Meetings With Authoritarian Leaders To Denigrate Biden. According to the Washington Post, “On his repeated trips to Kosovo and Serbia, he has used his stature in the region to boost Trump’s allies, to denigrate Biden’s efforts at negotiating a new peace deal, and to push for private developments. In Serbia, Grenell is often greeted as a quasi-official, reflecting a perception that he speaks for Trump and could play an important role in a future administration. ‘He is undoubtedly Serbia’s friend,’ Serbia’s ambassador to Washington, Marko Duric, said in an interview last year. ‘He was while he had the official post, and has remained so today. Everyone in Serbia appreciates that very much.’” [Washington Post, 3/28/24]

Grenell’s Meetings With Authoritarian Leaders Have Raised Concern Among National Security Officials

Grenell’s Meetings With Authoritarian Leaders Have Raised Concern Among National Security Officials. According to the Washington Post, “It’s unusual for a former diplomatic official to continue meeting with foreign leaders and promoting the agenda of a presidential candidate on the world stage. Grenell’s globe-trotting has sparked deep concern among career national security officials and diplomats, who warn that he emboldens bad actors and jeopardizes U.S. interests in service of Trump’s personal agenda. In the process, Grenell is openly charting a foreign policy road map for a Republican presidential nominee who has found common cause with authoritarian leaders and threatened to blow up partnerships with democratic allies.” [Washington Post, 3/28/24]