Former Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson accused Omarosa Manigault-Newman, former director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison, of being “ very disloyal” to President Trump.
Trump himself described her as a “lowlife” to reporters on Saturday.
“Lowlife,” Trump said. “She’s a lowlife.”
The backlash comes as Manigault-Newman is working on a forthcoming book critical of the Trump administration called “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.” The book is scheduled to be released later this month.
“Turning on the man who helped create her brand, fund her venture, & gave her a top WH job for personal gain is very disloyal. A racist, by definition, would not give a strong black woman the time, nor the opportunity. Most people know what’s up here,” Pierson tweeted Friday evening.
Turning on the man who helped create her brand, fund her venture, & gave her a top WH job for personal gain is very disloyal. A racist, by definition, would not give a strong black woman the time, nor the opportunity. Most people know what’s up here. ?? https://t.co/yQIMx1p1Wo
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) August 11, 2018
“She stuck by Trump because he has never stopped supporting her career,” Pierson added. “After her time on ‘The Apprentice,’ she eventually partnered with Trump to create a reality dating reality show. #Unhinged (with friends like this…).”
She stuck by Trump because he has never stopped supporting her career. After her time on ‘The Apprentice,’ she eventually partnered with Trump to create a reality dating reality show. #Unhinged (with friends like this…) https://t.co/YlkjDxfAQ2
— Katrina Pierson (@KatrinaPierson) August 11, 2018
The White House announced in December that Manigault-Newman was leaving from her post. She told ABC’s “Nightline” the same month that during her time at the White House, there “were a lot of things that I observed during the last year that I was very unhappy with.”
The upcoming book has come under significant scrutiny as several have discredited some of the claims in the book.
George Conway, husband of White House counselor Kellyanne Conway, denied allegations included in Manigualt-Newman’s book that Trump had used derogatory terms like “flip” and a “goo goo” to describe him.
“The allegation is not credible, and indeed is ridiculous, particularly in light of the timing of her departure from the White House—December 12, 2017,” George Conway, who is half-Filipino, tweeted. “It’s absurd all around.”
The allegation is not credible, and indeed is ridiculous, particularly in light of the timing of her departure from the White House—December 12, 2017. It’s absurd all around.
— George Conway (@gtconway3d) August 10, 2018
Republican pollster Frank Luntz also rejected a part included in the book, and added that he was not contacted to verify the claim.
“I’m in @Omarosa’s book on page 149. She claims to have heard from someone who heard from me that I heard Trump use the N-word. Not only is this flat-out false (I’ve never heard such a thing), but Omarosa didn’t even make an effort to call or email me to verify. Very shoddy work,” Luntz tweeted Friday.
I’m in @Omarosa’s book on page 149. She claims to have heard from someone who heard from me that I heard Trump use the N-word.
Not only is this flat-out false (I’ve never heard such a thing), but Omarosa didn’t even make an effort to call or email me to verify. Very shoddy work.
— Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 10, 2018
Manigault-Newman has also contradicted her own book in an interview with NPR on Friday when she said she had heard President Trump use the “N-word” on a tape.
However, reporters who have read her book claim that she wrote she never heard him say the word during his reality TV show “The Apprentice.” Rather, she claims she heard from unnamed sources that he had used the term.
