White House denies Stephen Miller’s grandmother died from coronavirus, despite death certificate stating otherwise

On the certificate, it listed her cause of death as 'respiratory arrest' resulting from 'Covid-19'

Mr Miller's uncle first confirmed his grandmother died from the coronavirus on Facebook (AFP/Getty Images)

The White House has denied top advisor Stephen Miller's grandmother died from the coronavirus - despite the death certificate stating otherwise.

Mr Miller's 97-year-old grandmother died after his uncle David Glosser, the brother of the advisor's mother, first revealed the women contracted Covid-19.

"This morning my mother, Ruth Glosser, died of the late effects of Covid-19 like so many thousands of other people; both young and old. She survived the acute infection but was left with lung and neurological damage that destroyed her will to eat and her ability to breathe well enough to sustain arousal and consciousness. Over an 8-week period she gradually slipped away and died peacefully this morning," Mr Glosser wrote on his public Facebook page when announcing his mother's death, Mother Jones first reported.

The uncle, who was a vocal critic of the sitting president, was contacted by the publication about the death of his grandmother.

He criticised the response from the Trump administration, including Mr Miller, in regards to the pandemic, which has now taken the life of his mother.

"With the death of my mother, I'm angry and outraged at [Miller] directly and the administration he has devoted his energy to supporting," Mr Glosser said.

When contacted about the death of Mr Miller's grandmother, the White House said Mother Jones' reporting was categorically false.

"This is categorically false, and a disgusting use of so-called journalism when the family deserves privacy to mourn the loss of a loved one," the White House told the publication. "His grandmother did not pass away from Covid. She was diagnosed with Covid in March and passed away in July so that timeline does not add up at all. His grandmother died peacefully in her sleep from old age. I would hope that you would choose not to go down this road."

The Independent contacted the White House for comment.

Mr Glosser then responded to the White House's denial of how his mother died, saying that "concealing" her cause of death from the public was not how people could offer "privacy" to him and his family during this grieving process.

"My mother led a long, satisfying, productive life of family and community service," he said. "She had nothing to be ashamed of, and concealing her cause of death to offer 'privacy' to me, our family, her hundreds of relatives and friends, does nothing to assuage our regret at her loss."

The man also provided his mother's death certificate to the publication as proof of her death. On the certificate, it listed her cause of death as "respiratory arrest" resulting from "Covid-19."

When approached again by Mother Jones, the White House again denied the cause of death despite proof of the death certificate.

"Again, this is categorically false. She had a mile [sic] case of Covid-19 in March. She was never hospitalised and made a full and quick recovery," the spokesperson said.

Mr Miller has been instrumental in the Trump administration's anti-immigration policies. In recent months, the administration has leaned on the pandemic as reasons to deny renewing visas or allowing immigrants into the country.

The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) also revealed this week that they would deny international college students entry into the country if all of their classes were online. This comes after ICE had to reverse a policy that would deport international students in the country if their college courses were completely online after it sparked nationwide backlash.

Mr Miller was also credited for writing the speech Mr Trump gave in the Oval Office on 11 March about the coronavirus pandemic. In that speech, the president called Covid-19 a "foreign virus" and largely downplayed how it would impact the United States.

The country reached two grim milestones this past week: more than 4 million reported cases and over 140,000 people dying from the novel virus.