Guess who is back in the center of the news these days? If you’ve been watching the headlines then you know its Omarosa Manigault Newman. She is in the midst of a press tour to promote her forthcoming tell-all book, Unhinged. We all knew it was coming, right?
Not only has she released a recording of her firing by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, but she admits to being “complicit” in helping the White House lie to the nation. Not a surprise. How did Omarosa get here? Let’s digress for a moment…
We were first introduced to Omarosa in 2004 when she participated on the first season of the reality series, The Apprentice. She quickly made a name for herself as the controversial, in-your-face, back-stabbing villain we loved to hate. Disagreeing with the villain label, she believed herself to be a “shrewd business woman.” She also claimed show producers manipulated footage to put her in a negative light.
Nonetheless, Omarosa returned to the sequel, Celebrity Apprentice, in 2008 and then collaborated with Trump in 2010 to create a new dating show, The Ultimate Merger, in which twelve men competed for her love. Still not enough, she returned to All-Star Celebrity Apprentice in 2013 and most recently Celebrity Big Brother in 2018.
During the Republican National Convention in July 2016, Omarosa announced that she had been named Director of African-American Outreach for Trump’s presidential campaign. Unfortunately, this was code for Trump needed a Black face to try and claim Black voters.
Black America made it crystal clear they didn’t want Omarosa representing us or pushing forth our narrative. Especially after in an interview with Frontline where she boasted, “every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump.”
Mind you, Omarosa was a Democrat until 2015. It’s always something to be said when Black women suddenly jump party lines to become a Republican and follow Donald Trump. She wanted us to follow her lead.
In 2017, Omarosa joined Trump’s White House Staff focusing on public engagement. Maybe her idea of engagement was getting into a heated shouting match with journalist Ed Gordon at the National Association of Black Journalists last year.
Then there was the photo op that she arranged with the leaders of HBCU’s – during Black History Month. It’s no surprise that Trump never came through with the proposed budget. In addition, there is no mention of federal investment in scholarships, technology or campus infrastructure that the leaders requested. Instead of expanding Pell grants for low-income students, the budget is actually cut by $4 billion.
After being forcibly removed from the White House grounds in December 2017, it was only then she criticized Donald Trump. And well, here we are.
Now, she wants back in Black America’s good graces. I don’t think she realizes there is nothing she can reveal to us that we already know. We don’t need tapes to prove that Trump is a racist, misogynist, and horrible leader of this country. He cannot be trusted and neither can she.
Perhaps Omarosa really believed that she could make difference. Maybe she honestly believed that if we got to know him better, we would love him too. However, his latest tweets calling her a “lowlife” and “dog” just support his continued hate for women – particularly Black women.
What Omarosa says or does next is yet to be seen. What we do know is that it will not be ending anytime soon.