At a rambling press conference yesterday, Griffin tearfully predicted her career is over and said Trump "broke me." Since the video was posted Tuesday, she has lost her job co-hosting CNN's New Year's Eve special and had all her upcoming comedy shows cancelled.
Trump, first lady Melania Trump and Donald Trump Jr. Have publicly criticized the video.
Griffin, who asserted that she has been contacted by the Secret Service, said the Trumps are "trying to ruin my life forever."
"The president, the first lady and the Secret Service have all made very clear their view on those thoughts," White House press secretary Sean Spicer said.
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Griffin, 56, repeated her claim that the video was a parody, meant as a pointed comeback to Trump's remark last summer that former Fox News Channel personality Megyn Kelly had "blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of wherever."
"I'm not laying down for this guy," she said in one defiant moment. "I'm going to keep making jokes about this guy."
Republican Party spokesman Mike Reed called the press conference a "desperate attempt" to change the conversation.
The California GOP later sent out a fundraising email calling Griffin's photo shoot disrespectful and obscene. Griffin appeared surprised at the number of cameras and reporters in a packed conference room at her lawyer's office, her hands shaking at one point when she took a sip of water.
She switched between contriteness to combativeness during the press conference, during which she attempted several nervous jokes that drew laughs mostly from her attorney, Lisa Bloom.
"Whether or not you get, or like, her artistic expression, in America, Kathy has the right to parody the president," Bloom said. "She never imagined it would be misinterpreted as a threat of violence against Trump.
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