Foes fired up
Prez’s ‘Apprentice’ Omarosa braves tough N.Y. crowd
PRESIDENT TRUMP’S black community liaison, Omarosa Manigault, defended her boss Thursday at the National Action Network’s New York convention, the largest African-American gathering of White House critics since the new administration took over.
Manigault spoke about the Small Business Administration and the administration’s commitment to historically black colleges and universities during remarks at a women’s luncheon, which featured rapper and actor MC Lyte.
But Manigault (photo) — best known as the much-disliked, much-fired contestant on Trump’s “The Apprentice” reality show — had her work cut out for her at the Sheraton Times Square, as Trump has alienated blacks and women.
“Oh, I’m ready,” Manigault said, when the crowd groaned after she mentioned Trump’s first 100 days. “I know what I came into and I’m not scared.”
Manigault, a National Action Network member in Los Angeles, said she would “fight for you in the White House.”
“I am looking forward to partnering with you, continuing to work on behalf of the National Action Network in Los Angeles but more importantly, the President of the United States,” she said to more groans.
Convention host and National Action president the Rev. Al Sharpton, urged Manigault to speak kindly of her visit.
“I want you to bring a message back that you were respected here at the National Action Network, because that’s how we behave,” Sharpton said. “We’ve had Bill O’Reilly here, we’ve had Sean Hannity here. We respect you. But I wish the President would respect us.
“He and I have known each other for 30 years,” Sharpton said of Trump. “Both of us are outerborough New Yorkers. He comes from Queens, where they don’t mind mixing it up, and I come from Brooklyn where we kick butt and take names.”
Earlier, Trump’s relationship with the media was examined by a panel featuring Daily News Editor-in-Chief Arthur Browne, who admitted that the paper, like much of the media, was “caught off guard” over Trump’s election night win.
“It seemed inconceivable that Donald Trump could ever be elected President of the United States,” Browne told the panel. “Some of the economic forces, some of the racial forces, some of the social forces that were at work I don’t think we were completely plugged into.”
Browne said the “fake news” bluster will run its course. “I believe that at some point, it won’t work,” Browne said. “You can’t lie your way out of the fact that you’re not getting things done in Washington.”
News columnist Shaun King was also featured on a panel discussing the future of the nation’s progressive movement. WASHINGTON — One of President Trump’s top economic advisers couldn’t promise that middleclass families won’t pay more if his new tax plan is put in place.
“I can’t make any guarantees until this thing is done and it’s on the President’s desk. But I can tell you, that’s our No. 1 objective in this,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” Thursday.
That’s a departure from what Gary Cohn, Trump’s chief economic adviser, said Wednesday. “It’s going to mean a tax cut,” he said when asked what the new rates would do for a family of four making $60,000 a year.