Omarosa Manigault’s known for her vigorous defense of President Trump, but this time, she may have gone too far. The former Apprentice contestant acted as the African-American outreach director during Trump’s campaign. She famously predicted that critics would “bow down” when he won the election, and she’s lashed out at journalists on varied subjects, including Trump’s Birtherism. Her new role focuses on “public engagement,” and if this new report is correct, she’s choosing to do her job in a highly questionable way.
The Washington Post has a bizarre new story that isn’t unbelievable in light of Omarosa’s generally combative attitude towards the media and anyone who doesn’t 100% embrace her boss. The paper writes that April Ryan (a veteran White House correspondent for the American Urban Radio Networks), who used to be on friendly terms with Omarosa, has accused her of physically bullying her in response to critical questions about the White House. Further, Omarosa reportedly revealed that Trump compiled “dossiers” on journalists who aren’t nice to him:
Manigault, who is now a communications official in the Trump administration, got into a heated argument with a White House reporter just steps from the Oval Office last week, according to witnesses. The reporter, April Ryan, said Manigault “physically intimidated” her in a manner that could have warranted intervention by the Secret Service.
Ryan also said Manigault made verbal threats, including the assertion that Ryan was among several journalists on whom Trump officials had collected “dossiers” of negative information.
Ryan later explained that this altercation happened outside Sean Spicer’s office. “She stood right in my face like she was going to hit me,” Ryan claimed. “She thought I would be bullied. I won’t be.”
The White House press secretary wouldn’t answer questions from Washington Post, nor would Omarosa. She refused to discuss the matter and responded only with Trump’s favorite catchprase-defense-mechanism: “Fake news!” She didn’t explain what the heck she meant by this, but one assumes that she’s denying the entire account.
(Via Washington Post)