Trump calls Omarosa 'that dog'
President Trump on Tuesday continued to lash out at Omarosa Manigault Newman over explosive claims his former “Celebrity Apprentice” co-star turned White House aide makes about him in her new book, “Unhinged.”
“When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out,” Trump tweeted. “Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!”
Trump has a history of using the phrase “like a dog” to disparage people, especially those who are fired. But several observers noted that in recent weeks, Trump has used racially charged rhetoric in responding to prominent African-American critics. Others, including Trump supporter Geraldo Rivera, condemned the comments as being beneath the office.
In just the *last two weeks*, the president of the United States has:
— called (again) Rep. Maxine Waters "very low IQ"
— said LeBron James is dumb
— called Omarosa "that dog"— Mark Murray (@mmurraypolitics) August 14, 2018
This kind of language is unbecoming of a President of the United States. There is no excuse for it, and Republicans should not be okay with it. https://t.co/0TLmRT7y22
— Jeff Flake (@JeffFlake) August 14, 2018
Fear my friend @realDonaldTrump undermines himself by using intemperate, boorish language to describe his enemies. I can't stand @OMAROSA a bully, back stabber & big mouth. But to call her a 'dog' & 'low life' is beneath dignity of the office of @POTUS & open to ugly connotation.
— Geraldo Rivera (@GeraldoRivera) August 14, 2018
At the White House on Tuesday afternoon, press secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump’s tweet had “absolutely nothing to do with race.”
“I think the president is certainly voicing his frustration with the fact that this person has shown a complete lack of integrity,” Sanders told reporters.
“The president wanted to give her a chance,” she said when asked why Trump would hire someone he now calls a “lowlife.”
Sanders also blamed the media for continuing to “create a large platform for somebody they know not to have a lot of credibility.”
Manigault Newman responded to Trump’s “dog” remark in an interview with MSNBC earlier Tuesday.
“I think that it just shows you that if he would say that publicly, what else would he say about me privately?” she said. “He has absolutely no respect for women, for African-Americans.”
She added: “He is unfit to be in this office and to serve as president of the United States.”
Trump seemed frustrated by secret recordings of conversations Manigault Newman made while she was employed at the White House, including one of a call she had with him the day after she was fired by chief of staff John Kelly.
In a recording of their conversation, Trump appeared unaware Manigault Newman had been fired.
“I didn’t know that,” Trump says after she informs him of her termination. “Goddamn it.”
In a series of tweets on Monday, Trump claimed that Manigault Newman begged him for a position in his administration, and that he gave her a job despite how disliked she was.
“Wacky Omarosa, who got fired 3 times on the Apprentice, now got fired for the last time,” the president tweeted. “She never made it, never will. She begged me for a job, tears in her eyes, I said Ok. People in the White House hated her. She was vicious, but not smart.”
“I would rarely see her but heard really bad things,” he added. “Nasty to people & would constantly miss meetings & work. When Gen. Kelly came on board he told me she was a loser & nothing but problems. I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me — until she got fired!”
On Monday night, Trump responded to another claim that Manigault Newman heard a tape of Trump using the N word on the NBC reality show, and that several Trump advisers had discussed the alleged recording during the 2016 campaign. According to the president, Mark Burnett, the show’s executive producer, had called him to refute the story.
“@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa,” Trump wrote. “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up.”
“Look at her MANY recent quotes saying such wonderful and powerful things about me — a true Champion of Civil Rights — until she got fired,” the president continued. “Omarosa had Zero credibility with the Media (they didn’t want interviews) when she worked in the White House. Now that she says bad about me, they will talk to her. Fake News!”
When pressed by reporters, Sanders said she’s never asked Trump if he’s used the N word, and refused to say whether Trump ever used it.
Appearing on MSNBC Monday night, Manigault Newman said she has “plenty more” recordings. But she declined to say how many more tapes she’ll make public.
“I don’t know. I’m going to watch to see,” she said. “I’m expecting that they’re going to retaliate and so I’m just going to stand back and wait.”
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