Here’s just part of the segment that devolved into a shouting match between @OMAROSA and the moderator. #NABJ17 pic.twitter.com/dzgvrYMuNg
— Aaron L. Morrison (@aaronlmorrison) August 11, 2017
Omarosa Manigault, former contestant on “The Apprentice” and current assistant to President Donald Trump, and BET host and panel moderator Ed Gordon had a heated exchange during the National Association of Black Journalists’ (NABJ) convention on Friday, August 11 in New Orleans.
Manigault lost her father and brother to violence while growing up in Youngstown, Ohio. And, during the panel, she joined the critics of The Donald for supporting police militarization. But, she defended him on most other points.
The pair ended up in a volatile exchange because Gordon wanted to talk about Trump. Manigault expressed to him that she refused to join and disclose “confidential conversations with the president.” She once uttered “shame on you” to Gordon for persisting and not acknowledging the deaths of her father and brother.
Jelani Cobb of The New Yorker and Nikole Hannah-Jones of The New York Times were both supposed to sit on the panel but bailed when they learned that Manigault, who isn’t a journalist, was added.
Manigault, who admitted she is the only person of color, most times in the room under this Administration, felt she was being ambushed during today’s panel discussion. She asked, “Is this a panel or is this just me?”
