Kathy Griffin vs. Donald Trump: Did her press conference help or hurt?

Jayme Deerwester | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Kathy Griffin: Trump's trying to ruin my life forever In an emotional statement, comedian Kathy Griffin says she thinks President Trump is trying to ruin her life. She adds, "He picked the wrong red-head."

Kathy Griffin and civil-rights lawyer Lisa Bloom came for Donald Trump Friday. But their press conference may come back to haunt them, as well as the Democrats in general.

"I’m not afraid of Trump," the 56-year-old comedian said. "He’s a bully. I’ve dealt with older white guys trying to keep me down my whole career."

Griffin and Bloom addressed what they both view as a disproportionate response by the president and his family after she apologized for posing with a fake, severed Trump head for photographer Tyler Shields.

Kathy Griffin about Donald Trump: 'He broke me' In an emotional statement, comedian Kathy Griffin says she thinks President Trump 'broke her.'

Those pictures, Bloom said, were meant to be a parody of Trump's infamous "blood-blood-coming-out-of-her-whatever" comments about then-Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who raised the question of his past misogynistic remarks at a presidential debate in August.

"It was a parody of Trump's own sexist remarks taken to an extreme, absurdist visual," Bloom said.

Obviously, that was not how they were interpreted and she had the photos pulled down and publicly acknowledged that she crossed the line.

"I apologized because it was the right thing to do," an emotional Griffin told reporters. "Then it became a mob mentality pile-on."

Although she did not retract her apology, Griffin felt the blowback warranted a follow-up: "What is happening to me has never happened in the history of this great country. A sitting president of the United States, his grown children and the first lady are personally, I feel, are trying to ruin my life forever.”

She added, "They’re using me as the shiny object so nobody talks about his FBI investigation."

Although Bloom correctly pointed out that her client has a "first amendment right to publicly parody the president," the problem for Griffin, as any celebrity who's weathered a similar scandal can attest, is the fine print: The first amendment does not indemnify the speaker from the commercial or legal fallout of their remarks, such as getting fired or sued in civil court.

In addition to losing her New Year's TV gig on CNN, an endorsement and several stand-up comedy performances, Griffin has received "detailed, specific" death threats and is under investigation by the United States Secret Service, which her criminal attorney, Dmitry Gorin, expects will be resolved in her favor.

Eric Schiffer, CEO of Reputation Management Consultants in Los Angeles, issued a verdict that was largely in line with the general sentiment on Twitter: "Griffin damaged her credibility even more with her rambling, defocused blaming of Trump when it was Griffin who 'victimized' herself."

He told USA TODAY that the comedian's "choice to fire off an urgent flare to Democrats and the 'resistance' with a call to arms is a 'Hail Mary' hope to trigger partisan outrage when most Democrats view her act as disgusting and boneheaded — even when many have dark hatred in their hearts for Trump. It will probably be viewed as a botched move by Griffin and raise eyebrows from Democrats and resistance diehards, not their pitchforks."

But anyone who thinks the My Life on the D-List star and standup-circuit veteran is done mocking Trump is mistaken.

Bloom promised, "Kathy will continue to be the fierce, brutally honest 'she-ro' that millions love. She will continue to push the edges of our comfort level, to challenge us and make us think."

Plus, as Griffin reminded reporters, "I’m not good at being appropriate. I’m going to make fun of him more now."