Omarosa, critical of former boss Trump, compliments first lady Melania Trump as "amazing," "sharp"
Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former White House aide who is now a reality TV contestant on "Celebrity Big Brother," described Melania Trump as "amazing" in Wednesday night's episode. Newman, a former "Apprentice" contestant, has been critical of President Trump when discussing her tumultuous year in the White House to other show contestants.
"I don't know why people don't think she's sharp," Newman said. "She speaks so many languages ... she's sharp."
Newman gave some behind-the-scenes information from her time at the White House. When asked about the residence, Newman said the Trumps had renovated the residence, although because it's a "historic building," there were "limitations" to what they could do.
But she complimented Melania Trump as having "impeccable taste."
Since Newman knew Mr. Trump before she was in the White House, contestant Ross Mathews asked what she called Mr. Trump. She said they called him "Mr. President" and "the first month I would slip ... but you snap out of it real quick when there are men with guns around."
Newman, in a previous episode of "Celebrity Big Brother, told Matthews that she would "never in a million years" vote for Mr. Trump again.
"I felt like I was serving my country, not serving him," Newman said. "I was haunted by tweets every single day, like what is he going to do?"
Newman has also called Vice President Mike President "scary" and "extreme."
"We would be begging for days of Trump back if Pence became president, that's all I'm saying," she added.
Newman was fired by chief of staff John Kelly at the end of 2017. While her firing probably would have made headlines anyway, she exited in a particularly dramatic fashion. According to CBS News chief White House correspondent Major Garrett, Newman made an appeal to Ivanka Trump after being fired, but Ivanka did not take any action.
Newman then found her way to the White House residence, where she tripped the alarms. Kelly became angry, and had her escorted from the building, although it is unclear who escorted her from the building.
A former White House official told CBS News at the time Newman had been a problem since before the inauguration. She had personal access to the president, although there were a number of people who tried to prevent her from being hired. Eventually, she landed at the Office of Public Liaison but was still given an "Assistant to the President" title. Kelly's predecessor, Reince Priebus, also wanted to fire her.
After she was fired, Mr. Trump thanked her for her service in a tweet.
