Omarosa Manigault: I’m Trump’s ‘Valerie Jarrett’

The last time Omarosa Manigault punched a clock at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., the 20-something was replying to party invites as a scheduling correspondent for then-Vice President Al Gore. But next January, the former reality TV "bad girl" could get much closer to the Oval.

In a recent interview, Manigault, who frequently appears on television in support of her former boss and presumptive GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump, said that her fellow reality show alum considers her his "Valerie Jarrett." Jarrett, who has known the Obama family personally and professionally for decades, is President Barack Obama's senior adviser and one of his most trusted confidantes.

"There is no question that there are some very extreme policies, but as Donald says, I am his Valerie Jarrett," said Manigault during a one-onone-interview with CEO Linda Spradley Dunn at the Odyssey Network Business Retreat, an invitation-only conference for multicultural women. (Editor's note: The interview has been taken off the site of Essence magazine, which published Manigault's sit-down with Spradley Dunn.)

"I'm the person who pulls him back when he goes too far," added Manigault, who "doesn't represent the campaign in an official capacity," according to Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks.

In February, Manigault pointed out Fox News contributor Tamara Holder's "big boobs" during a contentious interview about Trump's position on the Black Lives Matter movement and the Iraq War. Despite that cringeinducing screen moment and others, Manigault, an ordained minister, said that it was her responsibility to make sure the presidential candidate doesn't "go all the way off the edge."

Manigault added that she reserves the right to throw her hands up and leave "the room" (that place where decisions are made and tweets should be censored), but then things would probably just get crazier. "And anyone that thinks we don't need to be in those rooms," said Manigault, "is naïve."

"I check Trump every time he says something crazy," she continued in the interview. "I told him to stop calling Elizabeth Warren 'Pocahontas.'" So there's that.