Omarosa: I wouldn't vote for Trump again "in a million years, never"
Omarosa Manigault Newman, the former reality show star who went to work in the White House and then went back to reality television after being fired, said on CBS' "Celebrity Big Brother" on Thursday that she wouldn't vote for President Trump again "in a million years, never." Newman said she found it hard to separate her long-time loyalty for Mr. Trump when she worked in the White House.
"If we become friends, you'll see how loyal I am, like maybe to a fault," Newman said. Alluding to Mr. Trump, she added "it's just been so incredibly hard to shoulder what I shouldered for those two years because I was so loyal to a person. And I didn't realize that by being loyal to him, it was going mean I was going to lose 100 other friends."
Newman compared her relationship with Mr. Trump with fellow "Celebrity Big Brother" contestant Keshia Knight Pulliam's relationship with Bill Cosby. Starting at age 5, Pulliam starred as the youngest Huxtable child on "The Cosby Show." Pulliam went to court on the first day of Cosby's sexual assault trial to support him.
Pulliam pushed back against that comparison because Mr. Trump is "running a whole country of people."
"We helped Cosby out -- his impact on the black community is just as significant," Newman said. "I mean people looked up to the Cosbys. It's the same thing. I will stand up to that 100 percent."
When Pulliam specifically asked her about the "hate the campaign kind of incited," Newman answered "when you're in the middle of a hurricane, it's hard to see the destruction on the outer bands."
Newman later told contestant Ross Matthews that the "cattiness" on "Celebrity Big Brother" was similar to the atmospheres on "The Apprentice." Matthews, for his part, said in the confessional that he is doing "investigative journalism" in asking about the White House.
Newman said working in the White House was "100 percent" worse than being on a reality show because "this wasn't a game show."
"I made choices, I just have to live with them," she said tearfully.
Newman said she chose to work at the White House because she saw it as a "call of duty."
"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?"
She said she tried to be "that person" who spoke with Mr. Trump, but "it was like, keep her away." She said she doesn't know who is advising the president.
"It's not my circus, not my monkeys -- I'd like to say not my problem, but it's bad," Newman said. She said it's "not going to be okay ... it's so bad." When asked if she would vote for Mr. Trump again, Newman said "god no. Never. Not in a million years, never."
Some of Newman's comments came out earlier Thursday in the show's promo. In response, White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah said they take her claims "not very seriously. Omarosa was fired three times on 'The Apprentice' and this was the fourth time we let her go. She had limited contact with the president while here. She has no contact now."
Newman had a somewhat tumultuous tenure in the White House and 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.
The next episode of "Celebrity Big Brother" will air Friday at 8 p.m. ET on CBS and CBS All Access. Thursday's episode will be able to stream on CBS All Access.
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