Under normal circumstances a tell-all book from a White House insider is a minor media event. A few allegations which are considered “bombshells” by political insiders are included amidst fairly mundane stories of daily operations.
The Trump White House, however, included a very unusual staffer during its first year: Omarosa Manigault Newman, whose primary claim to notoriety was her experience on television as a contestant on Donald Trump’s “Apprentice” television show. Trusted by President Trump as a proven lackey, she was seen as a loyalist and her position in the White House was regularly defended by his supporters.
That has ended with the upcoming publication of Unhinged, due for release on August 12.
Review copies of books are provided to designated media outlets so that columnists may read the book and have reviews ready to publish before the date of release. Because the final details have not processed through the legal department or last editing (to catch things like typographical errors) the reviewers are instructed not to include exact quotes from the book. But they can talk about general information.
The general information from the Omarosa book is damaging. It reportedly ranges from Trump behaving erratically and incoherently to engaging in racist and sexist behavior. (The Guardian)
Omarosa’s problem is credibility. She has already contradicted herself on her own book – before its release. In an interview with NPR, she stated she’d heard Trump’s rumored “N-word tape”, while in the book she declares the reverse.
Some of these discrepancies are often due to a ghostwriter interpreting the statements of an “author”, and the famous person in question not performing a comprehensive verification read-through. But this is Omarosa, and her credibility is uncertain.
She does reportedly have tapes, however. And the Administration – and its defenders – spent more than a year promoting her as a credible, reasonable hire, so their attempts to now paint her as someone who was never trustworthy run counter to their own past declarations.
The White House is left waiting to see exactly what is in the book, and exactly what she taped, before making firm arguments against any allegations. Instead, they are criticizing her for not focusing on the good that they say President Trump has done. (TNB)
The fact that they do not feel confident making statements strongly denying Trump’s mannerisms or private words speak volumes about what is happening in private around the Oval Office.
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