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From Steve Bannon, Corey Lewandowski, Anthony Scaramucci, Sean Spicer, Omarosa Manigault Newman, one thing is for certain, Donald Trump sure knows how to pick em (sarcasm)! With the release of her latest book, Unhinged:An Insiders Account of The Trump White House, that hit bookshelves on Tuesday, the periodic reality television star, D list celebrity, former senior White House Trump staffer and current foe of the president has set all avenues of the print, mainstream and electronic media abuzz with titillating, salacious and outright hideously morbid allegations about specific former staff members, various White officials and , of course, the current commander-in-chief himself, President Trump.
All of the cable outlets, MSNBC, CNN, FOX News (yes FOX News) as well as high brow publications, The New York Times, The Atlantic, Wall Street Journal etc…and others wasted no time in reporting the numerous number of scurrilous accusations and allegations levied by Ms. Manigault – Newman. Most notably, the president’s supposed mental instability and racism. Interest, as well as reaction from all political quarters, has ranged from shock, anger, cynicism, amusement and in some cases, outright and profound disgust. Trump detractors and many others on the left have reacted with a degree of “I am not surprised” as such revelations were hardly surprising. On the political right, many have taken aim at the messenger, Omarosa, herself. She has been attacked and derided as disingenuous, opportunistic, irrational and to the title of her book – Unhinged.
Being the media-savvy hound that she is, Omarosa wasted no time in saturating the vast media landscape – radio, television and radio hurling and levying serious allegations about the president and many former co-workers. Her interview with Meet The Press host, Chuck Todd, discussing many issues including the allegation that Trump used the word “nigger” was nothing short of riveting.
Like many people, I have taken a degree of interest in this latest dramatic episode that has come out of this tumultuous administration. One particular engaging article written by Elaina Plott exposes how Omarosa refers to several of her former colleagues: Vice President Mike Pence – Ambitious, scheming and disciplined and scheming. Hope Hicks was described as friendly, capable, sensitive, out of her depth. Reince Priebus was a likable but weak person. Sean Spicer was nervous and high strung.
Unsurprisingly, the reaction from the White House has been anything but positive. Trump has been on twitter (no surprise here) virtually 24/7 denouncing her as “shameless,” “opportunistic” and “wacky,” “crazed” “unqualified” and other unflattering terms. The fact that Donald Trump took to social media to attack his former friend and supposed confidant is hardly surprising. What did raise more than a few eyebrows as well as the ire of more than a few people was when Trump referred to Ms. Maginault-Newman as a “dog.” Yep! You read it correctly! The president of the United States referred to his former employee, a Black woman as a dog!
Let’s just cut to the chase, this is nothing short of outrageous! What he probably wanted to tweet was the B-word, bitch! Needless to say, black twitter, vast segments of Black America (and people of all races and ethnicities) became lit and rightly so!! In fact, my own reaction was “no, you did not!” This is nothing but vehement, sexist, racist rhetoric of the most odious kind. Moreover, it fits a disturbing pattern of a president who routinely targets and attacks Black people, (Don Lemon, Maxine Waters, LeBron James, Frederica Wilson etc… ) and others, questioning their intelligence and humanity. Seeing them less than human. The fact that White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders could not definitively confirm that there are no tapes where the president had used the N-word speaks volumes.
In fact, this is common fare among racists to historically refer to Black people as apes, monkeys, dogs and in other grossly unflattering terms equating people of color with animals. Such attitudes are as old as the nation itself. The truth is that there are Whites who concede this fact. In the comment section of the New York Times, one subscriber who used his full name posted a comment stating as such:
“Trump can call a black person “dog” or much worse, and in so doing he is expressing what many whites feel but cannot openly say. As a white older male, I can’t even count the times I hear whites refer to blacks in demeaning terms. In fact, black people have no idea how prevalent it is among whites of any social standing to think of blacks as lesser humans. What Trump is doing is allowing whites to own their racism and ignorance with pride.” – Richard Monckton, San Francisco, California
There were similar comments as well.
Truth be told, while I (like many people) have never been a fan of Omarosa for varied and obvious reasons. Her perverse arrogance, shameless opportunism, mean-spirited persona, juvenile behavior and largely devious personality among them. Quite frankly, any reasonable person should take any allegations she has makes with utmost caution. Moreover, she has been complicit in all the nefarious activities of the president until she was cast aside and kicked off the elite reservation. That being said, it is totally unacceptable for the president to refer to any woman, regardless of race, in this manner. It is the height of racism and misogyny.
Trump is far from an inspiring president. While he has a base imperviously loyal to him and that is highly unlikely to abandon him regardless of how crass, crude, and obscene he becomes (yes, I believe he could get even worse). The deafening silence of so many mainstream Republicans is both troubling and disturbing. Those dismissing his antics are even worse. One can only imagine what the reaction would be from the conservative right if former president Barack Obama had behaved in such a manner. There would have been immediate calls for impeachment.
Truth aside, I would like to think that most of us are astute enough to realize that a White House where drama flows like a river at high tide and encompasses a Hemingway level of dysfunction does no good to its inhabitants, its leaders, its nation’s citizens and the nation itself. Something has to give.
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