On Friday, ABC’s World News Tonight and NBC Nightly News showed zero restraint when it came to salacious, unverified claims in an upcoming book by former White House aide and reality TV firebrand Omarosa Manigault-Newman that President Trump used the n-word. Even though there’s already contradictions emerging, both eagerly led with and reported them anyway.
To their credit, the CBS Evening News stayed away from this circus act and didn’t cover the book, instead focusing on stories where anchor Jeff Glor and CBS correspondents could deal in facts. At least on Friday, it seemed like CBS showed they had learned from the media’s blind worship of Michael Wolff’s Fire and Fury.
“Tonight, as we come on the air, the explosive allegations. The White House hits back at one of its most outspoken former adviser, Omarosa. She’s now claiming she has heard a recording of the President using the n-word. The White House calling her disgruntled, blasting her new book as riddled with lies,” fill-in ABC anchor Tom Llamas hyped in a tease.
Llamas reiterated many of those same points leading into correspondent David Wright’s report and failed to state that none of those claims have any evidence yet to back them up.
Wright touted the White House as “slamming a new book” by Omarosa that “describes Trump as a ‘racist, misogynist and bigot,’ according to The Washington Post, which received an advance copy of the book, Unhinged.”
The ABC correspondent cited the White House’s response, but did little to point out the absence of direct evidence to back up her claims on the n-word or Trump disparaging Kellyanne Conway’s half-Filipino husband George.
At the end of the two-minute-and-55-second report, Wright conceded: “This book contains a number of explosive claims, virtually all of them getting some serious pushback tonight, and the contradictions that are on Omarosa's only account aren't exactly helping her credibility, Tom.”
NBC wasn’t any better. Anchor Lester Holt boasted in a tease of “the bombshell from former White House aide Omarosa...that Donald Trump used the n-word on the set of The Apprentice and that there is tape to prove it” as “the White House fire[s] back.”
Following Llamas in not qualifying anything he states with the notion that none of the claims have weight, Holt continued in part after the credits:
She became a reality TV icon thanks to Donald Trump who fired her multiple times as an Apprentice and later as a presidential aide and now the woman known to most only as Omarosa is taking a nasty parting shot, out with a book that makes serious, racially-charged allegations against President Trump.
White House correspondent Kristen Welker footnoted that Omarosa’s mde “explosive but unverified accusations,” but continued acting as though they were true (click “expand” for more):
Omarosa Manigault-Newman making explosive but unverified accusations in her memoir, Unhinged, casting President Trump as “racist” and “unqualified,” including allegations three people told her the President frequently used the n-word during the tapings of the first season of The Apprentice writing: “They all told me that President Trump hadn't just dropped a single n-word bomb. He said it multiple times throughout the show's taping during off camera outtakes.” And: “It had finally sunk in that the person I’d thought I’d known so well for so long was actually a racist.” And while Manigault-Newman she says she never heard Mr. Trump use the n-word, she claims she heard the President refer to the husband of top aide Kellyanne Conway who is part-Filipino with another offensive epithet. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lashed out: “This book is riddled with lies and false accusations. It's sad that a disgruntled former White House employee is trying to profit off these false attacks.” Manigault-Newman was the highest ranking African American in the White House and never raised these types of public accusations while there. Instead, offering praise.
Showing her liberal bias, Welker used Omarosa’s dubious claims to link those to news that “the President is stoking cultural tensions yet again” with NFL players.
Welker later concluded:
And in a sign there could be more controversy, Manigault-Newman told NPR tonight she actually heard the explosive Apprentice tape in which Mr. Trump allegedly uses the n-word, but that directly contradicts her book that says she was only told about the tape, Lester.
To see the relevant transcript from ABC’s World News Tonight on August 10, click “expand.”
ABC’s World News Tonight
August 10, 2018
6:30 p.m. Eastern [TEASE][ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Explosive Allegations]
TOM LLAMAS: Tonight, as we come on the air, the explosive allegations. The White House hits back at one of its most outspoken former adviser, Omarosa. She’s now claiming she has heard a recording of the President using the n-word. The White House calling her disgruntled, blasting her new book as riddled with lies.
(....)
6:31 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: White House Slams Omarosa]
LLAMAS: And we begin with the White House facing off against another former adviser, blasting a soon-to-be published tell-all book by Omarosa. Her relationship with the President goes back more than a decade from The Apprentice all the way to the White House. But in the book, she’s reported to call her former mentor and boss, a “racist, misogynist, and a bigot.” Tonight, she’s also claiming she’s heard a recording of the president using the n-word. The White House accusing her of false attacks. ABC’s David Wright starts us off with the latest explosive claims.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Breaking News; White House Slams Omarosa; Sanders: New Book Is “Riddled with Lies”]
DAVID WRIGHT: Tonight, the Trump administration is slamming a new book by former White House adviser and Celebrity Apprentice contestant, Omarosa Manigault-Newman.
DONALD TRUMP: Omarosa has to go. You're fired.
WRIGHT: Long since fired from both posts, Omarosa now describes Trump as a “racist, misogynist and bigot,” according to The Washington Post, which received an advance copy of the book, Unhinged. The White House says the book is “riddled with lies”: “It's sad that a disgruntled former White House employee is trying to profit off these false attacks, and even worse that the media would now give her a platform.” Omarosa was the highest ranking African-American to serve on the Trump White House staff. Since then, she's dished about her experience on Big Brother:
OMAROSA MANIGAULT-NEWMAN: I'd like to say not my problem, but I can't say that because, like, it's bad.
WRIGHT: And on Good Morning America:
MANIGAULT-NEWMAN: But there were a lot of things that I observed during the last year that I was very unhappy with, that I was very uncomfortable with.
WRIGHT: The new book goes into detail. According to The Post, Omarosa claims on the set of The Apprentice, Trump used the n-word repeatedly, his offensive language caught on tape. In the book, Omaroa reportedly says she never heard it herself. But today in an NPR interview, she told a different story.
MANIGAULT-NEWMAN: I heard the President of the United States use not only the n-word, but as Bill Pruitt described during that interview, other horrible things, during the production of The Apprentice.
WRIGHT: According to The Guardian newspaper, Omarosa claims she personally witnessed the President use racial slurs about advisor Kellyanne Conway's husband, who is half-Filipino. George Conway tweeted today: “The allegation is not credible, and indeed is ridiculous.”
LLAMAS: Alright, David Wright is with the President tonight in New Jersey, and David, we can't stress this enough. The White House really pushing back on this book tonight, saying they are all false accusations.
WRIGHT: That's right, Tom. This book contains a number of explosive claims, virtually all of them getting some serious pushback tonight, and the contradictions that are on Omarosa's only account aren't exactly helping her credibility, Tom.
WRIGHT: David Wright for us tonight with those explosive allegations. David, thank you.
To see the relevant transcript from August 10's NBC Nightly News, click “expand.”
NBC Nightly News
August 10, 2018
7:00 p.m. [TEASE] Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Omarosa’s Bombshell Claim]
LESTER HOLT: Tonight, the bombshell from former White House aide Omarosa. New claims that Donald Trump used the n-word on the set of The Apprentice and that there is tape to prove it. Tonight, the White House firing back.
(....)
7:01 p.m. Eastern
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Omarosa’s Accusation]
HOLT: She became a reality TV icon thanks to Donald Trump who fired her multiple times as an Apprentice and later as a presidential aide and now the woman known to most only as Omarosa is taking a nasty parting shot, out with a book that makes serious, racially-charged allegations against President Trump. It's an eyebrow raising turnabout for someone hired to build bridges between President and the African-American community. Our Kristen Welker has details and the White House reaction.
DONALD TRUMP [on The Apprentice]: Young, emerging, brillant stars.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Omarosa Accuses Trump of Using ‘N-Word,’ Says Tape Proves It]
KRISTEN WELKER: Tonight, from the former reality TV villain-turned ousted Trump aide —
DONALD TRUMP [on The Apprentice]: You’re fired.
WELKER: — Omarosa Manigault-Newman making explosive but unverified accusations in her memoir, Unhinged, casting President Trump as “racist” and “unqualified,” including allegations three people told her the President frequently used the n-word during the tapings of the first season of The Apprentice writing: “They all told me that President Trump hadn't just dropped a single n-word bomb. He said it multiple times throughout the show's taping during off camera outtakes.” And: “It had finally sunk in that the person I’d thought I’d known so well for so long was actually a racist.” And while Manigault-Newman she says she never heard Mr. Trump use the n-word, she claims she heard the President refer to the husband of top aide Kellyanne Conway who is part-Filipino with another offensive epithet. White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders lashed out: “This book is riddled with lies and false accusations. It's sad that a disgruntled former White House employee is trying to profit off these false attacks.” Manigault-Newman was the highest ranking African American in the White House and never raised these types of public accusations while there. Instead, offering praise.
OMAROSA MANIGAULT-NEWMAN [on PBS’s Frontline, 09/27/16]: Every critic, every detractor will have to bow down to President Trump.
WELKER: But she was ousted in December amid tensions with the President and other staffers.
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Trump Stokes NFL Feud over National Anthem Protests]
Her new claims of racism come as the President is stoking cultural tensions yet again[.]
(....)
7:04 p.m. Eastern
WELKER: And in a sign there could be more controversy, Manigault-Newman told NPR tonight she actually heard the explosive Apprentice tape in which Mr. Trump allegedly uses the n-word, but that directly contradicts her book that says she was only told about the tape, Lester.
HOLT: Kristen Welker tonight, thank you, Kristen. You'll hear more from Omarosa in her exclusive interview with Chuck Todd this Sunday on Meet the Press.
