According to Donald Trump’s campaign director for African-American outreach, the liberal media has distorted the president-elect’s views on race and diversity.
In a guest column penned for The Hollywood Reporter, Omarosa Manigault, who is now involved in the Trump administration’s national engagement efforts, aimed to debunk the idea that the President-Elect is misogynistic and racist.
“I am black, female, and Donald Trump is my friend,” the former Celebrity Apprentice star declared. “I am aware of the perceptions. But he is open-minded: He does not judge people on their gender or race. He judges them on their ability to do the job.”
Citing Mr. Trump’s high employment of female executives, Manigault affirmed her belief that he would “empower women and have them shatter the glass ceiling.”
When it came to race, she wrote of her own experience being “incredibly appreciated and celebrated” by The Apprentice franchise. “Look at my career, the wealth and exposure that I've had,” she continued. “It's very difficult to make the argument that Donald Trump doesn't like black people and black women.”
Manigault concluded with words about her current mission in the Trump administration. “I'm on the presidential transition team in what is called national engagement,” she wrote. “[Mr. Trump] has given me a personal directive that with the 4,000 jobs we need to fill, he wants his administration to be the most diverse in history. And LGBT is absolutely part of diversity.”
Yet, despite her efforts to accomplish goals that should be lauded across the spectrum, Manigault has encountered vitriol and pushback. “I was called every single racial slur in the book that you could direct towards an African-American by African-Americans,” Manigault told ABC News’ 20/20.
Kwame Jackson, a former contestant on The Apprentice, opined to USA Today that "appointing her to direct African-American outreach” was “like appointing Benedict Arnold to lead the Revolutionary Army."
“I will never forget the people who turned their backs on me when all I was trying to do was help the black community,” she reflected. “It's been so incredibly hard.”
