Trump’s ‘That Dog’ Attack on Omarosa Manigault Newman Is Latest Insult Aimed at Black People
WASHINGTON — President Trump on Tuesday added his former White House aide, Omarosa Manigault Newman, to the growing list of African-Americans he has publicly denigrated on Twitter, calling her “that dog” and a “crazed, crying lowlife” in the wake of her allegations against him of mental deterioration and racism.
Even for a president who consistently takes to Twitter to assail his adversaries, the morning tweet about Ms. Manigault Newman was a remarkably crude use of the presidential bully pulpit to disparage a minority woman who once served at the highest levels in his White House.
In recent weeks, Mr. Trump has called Don Lemon, the black CNN anchor, “the dumbest man on television.” He questioned the intelligence of LeBron James, the star basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers. He has repeatedly said Maxine Waters, an African-American member of Congress, has a “low I.Q.” He called LaVar Ball, the African-American father of another famous Lakers player, a “poor man’s version of Don King.”
On Tuesday, Mr. Trump made clear that he has no intention of moderating his language when he feels under attack, regardless of the criticism that he gets for breaching the comity that normally accompanies the office of the president.
Mr. Trump also renewed his offensive on his attorney general, Jeff Sessions, and blamed him for not putting an end to the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.
Fresh from his vacation in New Jersey, Mr. Trump had a light week of scheduled events. He spent much of Tuesday morning tweeting out quotations from people who criticized the special counsel investigation, at times inserting his own opinions.
The president has been lobbing insults at Ms. Manigault Newman as she promotes her new book, “Unhinged,” about her time in the White House. But calling her a “dog” was jarring, even as he described her as a “crazed, crying lowlife” in the previous sentence.
Mr. Trump has deployed the “dog” insult previously, in one case saying his onetime political rival Ted Cruz “lies like a dog” and, in another, calling Arianna Huffington, co-founder of HuffPost, a “dog.”
On Monday, NBC released a tape Ms. Manigault Newman made of her speaking to Mr. Trump, which she said was recorded the day after she was fired. In the recording, the president said he knew nothing about this personnel decision and told her, “I don’t love you leaving at all.”
In December, Mr. Trump’s chief of staff, John F. Kelly, fired her in the Situation Room, the most secure conference room in the White House. Ms. Manigault Newman has released a recording of that conversation, as well.
Ms. Manigault Newman has said she has more audio recordings, and in an interview Monday on MSNBC’s “Hardball,” she said she would cooperate with the special counsel, if asked. “Anything they want, I’ll share,” she said.
The president’s latest attack on Mr. Sessions was packaged among other tweets assailing the special counsel investigation, which Mr. Trump regularly calls a “witch hunt.”
Mr. Trump’s former campaign chairman, Paul Manafort, is currently on trial, accused of tax and bank fraud crimes. He is the first person prosecuted by the special counsel. Mr. Manafort’s attorneys were expected to start presenting his defense on Tuesday.
Blaming Mr. Sessions for not shutting down the investigation is not a new tack for Mr. Trump. The special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III, is already reviewing some of Mr. Trump’s tweets about Mr. Sessions as part of a wide-ranging inquiry into whether the president has tried to obstruct justice.
Mr. Trump also tweeted insults at the former F.B.I. agent, Peter Strzok, who was fired over not following bureau policies. Mr. Strzok had helped to oversee the Hillary Clinton email and Russia investigations. It was later disclosed that he disparaged Mr. Trump in text messages.
Mr. Trump on Tuesday questioned why the Russia investigation would not end with Mr. Strzok’s firing.