Trump lashes out at ‘Wacky Omarosa’ over book, recordings
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump lashed out at Omarosa Manigault Newman, saying his former White House adviser — who is promoting a tell-all book and airing secret audio recordings — “got fired for the last time.”
On Twitter, Trump labeled Manigault Newman “wacky” and said Chief of Staff John Kelly called her a “loser & nothing but problems.” He added: “I told him to try working it out, if possible, because she only said GREAT things about me until she got fired!”
Trump’s pushback came after Manigault Newman released another recording. Aired on NBC’s “Today” show, it is purportedly an excerpt of a phone conversation between Trump and her after she was fired from the White House. It appears to show Trump expressing surprise, saying “nobody even told me about it.”
Manigault Newman told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that she surreptitiously recorded a number of conversations in the White House for her own protection. The show aired portions of a recording of her firing by Kelly in the highsecurity Situation Room.
Critics have denounced the recordings as a serious breach of ethics and security. The voice on the recording appears to be Trump’s. The White House has not denied it, but The Associated Press has not independently verified it is the president. The AP has independently listened to the recording of Kelly and Manigault Newman.
Trump acknowledged that the U.S. president should perhaps not engage in a public war of words with an ex-employee, saying he knows “it’s “not presidential” to take on “a lowlife like Omarosa.” But he added: “This is a modern day form of communication and I know the Fake News Media will be working overtime to make even Wacky Omarosa look legitimate as possible. Sorry!”
Responding to Trump’s tweets on NBC, Manigault Newman said: “I think it’s sad that with all the things that’s going on in the country that he would take time out to insult me and to insult my intelligence.”