If Omarosa is in charge of black America she is not off to a good start just like the rest of the Trump administration. Mangiult has managed to piss off NNPA members, disappoint HBCUs and get into highly charged arguments with black media influencers.
Omarosa Manigault, Trump champion, advocate, surrogate and African American representative. Her professional title in the White House is assistant to the president and director of communications in the Office of Public Liaison for the Trump Administration. While she stomps hard for Trump and proclaims herself a champion for African Americans she continues to find herself at odds and combative on black issues and with black leaders.
On the campaign trail there was Don Lemon, an openly black gay journalist who she called a “drama queen and queen” repeatedly on a TMZ rant, after the two got into heated debates on CNN. She hasn’t been seen on his show since.
Next she went after one-time friend and colleague, White House correspondent April D. Ryan. Ryan claims Manigault physically and verbally intimidated her and claimed that the White House had “dossiers” of negative information on her and other journalists. Manigult denied the allegations.
Then there’s her Black History Month plantation gathering of the HBCU presidents to the White House for a photo-op and Kelly Ann Conway peep show. No substance or assistance to HBCUs and the $4 billion the Obama Administration allocated may not be sustained.
In late March the Trump administration presented Congress a list of ways to cut $18 billion from the federal budget this year in an effort to offset its request for additional defense spending. Nearly $3 billion would be cut from education programs including Pell Grants that help low-income individuals pay for college. One of the topics HBCU’s wanted to address at the White House meeting which some never had the opportunity to do.
Back in January Manigault along with other members of Trump’s transition met in an off the record meeting with members of the Black press including Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis Jr., president/CEO of the National Newspaper Publishers Association and other Black leaders. Manigault made a promise to Chavis about a “first interview” after Trump was inaugurated.
Recently Manigault invited herself to the NNPA’s Black Press Week in Washington DC. During opening remarks, Manigault had praised the Black journalists for historically asking “the tough questions”. But when the tough questions came from a promise made by Manigualt she snapped and went Omarosa.
A reporter asked Manigault about the promised “first interview” with Trump to NNPA President Benjamin Chavis. Manigault responded, “I was very surprised because we’ve always had a great working relationship, Hazel, that you wrote such a dishonest story about a closed off the record meeting that I invited NNPA to make sure that we had a great relationship, that we started early. I was really surprised that you made that a press story because that was inaccurate. And moreover, you weren’t in the room.”
The reporter replied, “It was not inaccurate, and I have my sources right here. The question is when is the interview going to take place? That’s the question.”
Manigault continued, “……. your article did more damage to NNPA and their relationship with the White House because it’s not just me. So you attack me, they circle the wagons. So you can keep attacking me and they will continue to circle the wagons, but that does not advance the agenda of what NNPA is doing,”
Manigault doesn’t dispute having promised the interview. However, she was upset because the story said she promised Chavis “the first” interview.
Minutes later Manigualt stormed out the room. The publishers were in Washington observing NNPA’s annual Black Press Week, this year celebrating the 190th anniversary of the Black Press.
While some speculate Omarosa sold out for a large pay check, her finances were detailed in one of dozens of disclosure reports released by the White House. The reports claim she received $46,000 in salary from the Trump campaign and presidential transition.
