Shortly before a white supremacist rally was to be held outside the White House, ABC’s Good Morning America touted the ramblings of disgraced former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman. In her new book, ironically called Unhinged, she described the President as a “racist, bigot, and misogynist,” so, of course, the liberal media were enthralled. So much show that they touted a TMZ video of her suggesting President Trump wanted a “race war”.
Despite President Trump’s condemnation of racism prior to the rally, ABC correspondent Tara Palmeri chided Trump for rebuking his staffer. “President Trump invited the press to his golf club yesterday for an event with supporters, but instead of further condemning the rallies, he called his former staffer a low life,” she huffed.
“According to The Washington Post, which has an advance copy of her book titled Unhinged, Manigault Newman claims Trump is a, quote, ‘racist, bigot, and misogynist,’” Palmeri hyped. “The White House, bashing her book. Calling it riddled with lies and false accusations.”
Palmeri also showed off a video of Omarosa opining to TMZ that President Trump was succeeding in creating a “race war” in the U.S.:
OMAROSA MANIGAULT NEWMAN: If he wants to start a race war, he's succeeding.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Would you say the President is a racist right now? Is it fair to say?
MANIGAULT NEWMAN: Absolutely.
Following Palmeri’s report, ABC brought on their chief White House correspondent, Jon Karl who admitted Omarosa had “serious credibility problems” since she previously said the President wasn’t a racist. But he insisted that “she was the President's most high profile, prominent, senior African-American on his White House staff. And for that reason, she can’t be ignored.”
On ABC’s This Week, a short time later, Karl continued to fawn over Omarosa’s claims and badgered Presidential Adviser Kellyanne Conway about Omarosa and continually insinuated that there were no high ranking African-Americans left in the White House.
“There’s less focus on Mary Elizabeth Taylor who’s an African-American staffer on our team who did more in this White House to get Neil Gorsuch confirmed than anybody else,” former Trump legislative affairs director, Marc Short schooled Karl. The ABC reporter then claimed there were no African-Americans with an office close to President. “That’s not true. Jeron Smith's office is actually in the East Wing. He is in the White House,” Short shot back.
Short also expertly called out the media for the 180-degree flip in their attitude towards the reality show attention seeker. “The reality is Jon, the media ridiculed and mocked Omarosa for the full year plus that she was in the White House and now she writes a book and all of a sudden she's like an Oracle,” he pointed out.
If that wasn’t obnoxious enough, Karl also fawned over porn star lawyer Michael Avenatti and his rumored 2020 presidential run. “Well, he had quite a reception in Iowa. He had a fiery speech. It was quite a beginning. He is the most unconventional candidate we've seen—well, since I guess about four years ago,” he said on GMA.
The transcript is below, click "expand" to read:
ABC
Good Morning America
August 12, 2018
8:14:00 a.m. Eastern(…)
TARA PALMERI: Good morning, guys. President Trump invited the press to his golf club yesterday for an event with supporters, but instead of further condemning the rallies, he called his former staffer a low life.
(…)
PALMERI: Where he also responded directly for the first time to his former adviser, Omarosa Manigault Newman, who calls him a racist in her new book.
DONALD TRUMP: Low life, she's a low life.
PALMERI: The former reality show villain rose up to be the highest ranking African-American in the White House only to be fired late last year. Asked by TMZ if the President's attacks on athletes are causing tensions in the black community –
OMAROSA MANIGAULT NEWMAN: If he wants to start a race war, he's succeeding.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: Would you say the President is a racist right now? Is it fair to say?
MANIGAULT NEWMAN: Absolutely.
PALMERI: According to The Washington Post, which has an advance copy of her book titled Unhinged, Manigault Newman claims Trump is a, quote, “racist, bigot and misogynist.” The White House, bashing her book. Calling it riddled with lies and false accusations.
(…)
8:16:41 a.m. Eastern
PAULA FARIS: Can we talk about Omarosa who the President just called a low life. Considering she's already changed her story, Jon, how damaging could this book be, or do you expect people to presume that she's just a disgruntled employee with an axe to grind?
JON KARL: Well, she has serious credibility problems. She told us just last December that the President is absolutely not a racist, that she would never have worked for a racist. So she's not exactly the most credible critic here. But the thing is, Paula, she was the President's most high profile, prominent, senior African-American on his White House staff. And for that reason, she can’t be ignored.
FARIS: You've got Michael Avenatti on the show who's become an unlikely hero on the left. So, this week he was doing the rounds as he's considering a presidential run. Jon, you heard him say, quote, “When they go low, we hit harder.” Do Democrats really feel that he could be their guy? Could we see a Trump-Avenatti joust?
KARL: What, you mean a candidate with no political experience and a checkered past?
FARIS: Yeah, that, exactly that.
KARL: Come on, that sounds crazy. Well, he had quite a reception in Iowa. He had a fiery speech. It was quite a beginning. He is the most unconventional candidate we've seen—well, since I guess about four years ago.
FARIS: Cannot wait to hear what he has to say on the show!
(…)
