Donald Trump claims he is not a racist and that’s he’s never used the “n-word.” But a new tape Omarosa Manigault Newman just released may prove otherwise.
On Monday, Trump tweeted in response to Newman’s claims that he was a racist who used the “n-word.” “I don’t have that word in my vocabulary and never have. She made it up,” Trump wrote. However, CBS News has obtained a recording in which Trump and his advisors discuss a tape in the midst of his 2016 campaign.
While Trump’s advisors deny the validity of the tape, it would support Newman’s claims that Trump used hateful and racist speech. In the recording, you can hear the group exchanging ideas about how to handle the incident. One of the advisors, spokesperson Katrina Pierson, Newman says was a part of the damage control team who was then-assistant to Eric Trump.
The first time Newman recalled hearing about Trump’s use of the racial slur was during his time on “The Apprentice.” And in October 2016, Pierson and other advisors hopped the phone to figure out how to “spin” Trump’s words. “I am trying to find at least what context it was used in to help us maybe try to figure out a way to spin it,” Pierson is heard saying.
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During her appearance on Fox News Monday night, Pierson denied the call ever happened, according to CBS News. “No, Ed (Henry). That did not happen. Sounds like she is writing a script for a movie.” She continued, “She was obsessed with it,” Pierson told The Daily Beast. “Omarosa had been concern trolling [about] this tape daily. She was obsessed… Finally, I got to the point where, when it was just us, I would roll with it because there were other things that I needed to deal with. But of course, I wasn’t saying he actually said it… There were several times that I would play to her just to keep her out of the way, as I’ve already stated publicly. The thing here is there was never a conference call confirming anything. It was all speculation, all rumor, all strategy, it was never confirming anything.”
