- Sarah Matthews joined the White House as Deputy Press Secretary on June 8, 2020.
- She resigned on the day of the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021, calling it an “attempted coup”.
- Matthews and another Trump White House aide are expected to testify at the hearing on Thursday, January 6.
Loading Something is loading.
Sarah Matthews, Trump’s former deputy White House press secretary, is expected to testify before the House Select Committee investigating the Capitol attack on Thursday, according to reports.
Matthews served as deputy press secretary in the final months of Donald Trump’s presidency. She was one of several Trump aides who resigned on the day of the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021.
At the time, she said in a public statement that she was “deeply disturbed” by the attack and called for a “peaceful transfer of power”.
“It has been an honor to serve in the Trump administration and I am proud of the policies we have enacted. As someone who has worked in the halls of Congress, I was deeply disturbed by what I saw today,” she said. “I will be stepping down from my role, effective immediately. Our nation needs a peaceful transfer of power.”
One year after the attack, Matthews wrote in a Twitter thread that the event was “one of the darkest days in American history.”
— Sarah Matthews (@SarahAMethews1) January 6, 2022
“Make no mistake, the events of the 6th were an attempted coup, a term we would use if they happened in any other country, and former President Trump failed to meet the moment,” she wrote.
Matthews also recently came to the defense of former White House aide Cassidy Hutchinson after she spoke before the committee on Jan. 6. As Trump, his supporters and right-wing news outlets cast doubt on Hutchinson’s bombshell testimony, Matthews said people were trying to play down the significance of the former aide’s statements.
“Anyone downplaying Cassidy Hutchinson’s role or her access to the West Wing either doesn’t understand how Trump’s WH worked or is trying to discredit her because they are afraid of how damning this testimony is,” Matthews wrote on Twitter.
— Sarah Matthews (@SarahAMethews1) June 28, 2022
Matthews already volunteered before the House Select Committee in February. A video of her testimony was played at a June 16 hearing, in which she said Trump’s tweet about Mike Pence not having the “guts” to cancel the election was like “pouring gasoline on the fire.”
Before her time in the White House, Matthews worked for Trump’s re-election campaign, where she met Kaylee McEnany, a former White House press secretary, according to an interview with her alma mater Kent State University.
“In June (2020), she kicked me out of the campaign and brought me into the White House as deputy press secretary,” Matthews told Kent State University. “In this role, I serve as President Trump’s spokesperson and spend much of my day working with the White House staff. I also develop messaging strategy, prepare Kayleigh for briefings and serve the president for interviews.”
Matthews is expected to testify live during the seventh public hearing on January 6, along with Matthew Pottinger, who was previously Trump’s national security adviser and also resigned after the Capitol attack.
She is currently the Communications Director of the Climate Crisis Committee.
Matthews did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Insider.
Loading Something is loading.
Add Comment