Once again, in the midst of perhaps the most serious crisis to confront the American Presidency since the Nixon administration, America is being treated to a grand distraction. This time, it comes in the form of the reality star and former White House Aide Omarosa Manigault-Newman. As word of her tell-all book Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House and secretly recorded tapes are hitting the public airwaves ,President Donald Trump is furious.
The president made the situation turn to high comedy and street talking as he actually took to Twitter to call Omarosa a “lying… lowlife… dog.” Social media erupted and noted that when it comes to Black women, Trump has a particularly nasty streak. His comments against Maxine Waters, calling her a person of low intelligence and other slurs, is a prime example. As a result, his tweet took on a much deeper meaning when it comes to the imagery of Black women and it is insulting.
Now Omarosa is claiming Trump used the N-word on the set of “The Apprentice” and that there may be an audio recording. On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee-Sanders was pressed about Trump’s comments and stated that Trump has called others political opponents dogs. When asked if Trump has ever used the N-word, Huckabee-Sanders responded that she had never heard him use the word but as to other times, “I can’t guarantee anything.”
A lot of people have bristled at the thought of defending Omarosa as a part of the Black community. She has exhibited a pattern of what can only be called sell out behavior that served only to benefit her agenda and that of President Trump’s. According to respected national journalist April Ryan, Omarosa has even physically threatened her during an encounter in the White House. During the first year of the Trump presidency, Omarosa claimed to be the driving force behind a meeting of HBCU presidents in the Oval Office with Trump. In fact, so great was her power and hubris, she had stationery printed that referred to her as The Honorable Omarosa Manigault-Newman.
But does it really matter if it is discovered that Trump used the N-word? After all, his father, Fred Trump, had KKK connections and the Trump realty business was sued by the federal government because they did not rent to Blacks in certain buildings. It also does not matter that Trump called Omarosa, a once-faithful servant who did his bidding no matter what, a dog. It’s just another distraction.
What Trump wants people to forget about is serious and includes: the trial of Paul Manafort, Trump’s admission that he knew his son was meeting in secret to gather dirt on Clinton, the separation of children from immigrant parents attempting to cross the border, the continuing crisis of gun violence on the streets of America, police shootings and hate speech.
