Omarosa Manigault-Newman entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Wednesday and is already complaining about her time working in the White House. Photo / Getty Images
Omarosa Manigault-Newman entered the Celebrity Big Brother house on Wednesday and is already complaining about her time working in the White House. Photo / Getty Images
She never knew what President Trump might say next on Twitter. She wanted to be a calming influence, but other staffers in the White House tried to keep her away from him. She persevered because she felt it was her "call to duty" to be there.
On Thursday night's episode of Celebrity Big Brother, a tearful Omarosa Manigault Newman opens up to another contestant about her time at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. — and presents a not-all-flattering portrait of the president she served.
"I was haunted by tweets every single day, like what is he going to tweet next?" Manigault Newman tells television personality Ross Matthews in a clip teased on social media by the official account of the long-running CBS reality show.
Omarosa complained about being paralysed with fear about what Donald Trump would tweet next and said she tried to be the voice of reason but was attacked for it. Photo / AP
Matthews, perhaps best known for his appearances as "Ross the Intern" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, and Manigault Newman are shown lounging on couches in a private conversation captured by some of the 87 cameras in the house in which the contestants stay.
A seemingly incredulous Matthews presses Manigault Newman — billed simply as Omarosa on the show — about her service in the White House, where she held the title of director of communications at the Office of Public Liaison for about a year.
"I felt like it was a call to duty," Manigault Newman tells Matthews. "I felt like I was serving my country, not serving [Trump]."
Asked whether she did anything to curb all the president's unpredictable tweets, Manigault Newman explains: "I tried to be that person, and then all of the people around him attacked me. It was like: 'Keep her away. Don't give her access. Don't let her talk to him.' "
Later, Manigault Newman — a former contestant on Trump's former NBC reality show The Apprentice — says she can't wash her hands of the White House turmoil even though she'd like to.
"It's not my circus, not my monkeys," she tells Matthews. "You know, I like to say 'not my problem,' but I can't say that because it's bad."
Matthews, looking increasingly worried, then tries to seek reassurance about the future of the Trump White House.
"I need you to say, 'No, it's going to be OK,' " Matthews says.
"No, it's not going to be OK, it's not," Manigault Newman responds.
Matthews lets out a big sigh.
"It's so bad," Manigault Newman says.
White House spokesman Raj Shah said the White House is taking Manigault Newman's comments "not very seriously". The former aide was forced out of the White House in December.
"Omarosa was fired three times on The Apprentice and this is the fourth time we let her go," Shah said. "She had limited contact with the president while here. She has no contact now."
The episode is the second for the celebrity version of the show. On the previous episode, Manigault Newman was introduced to the 10 other "celebrities" she is competing against. Each week, someone will be voted out of the house, with the last remaining houseguest receiving a grand prize.
The former White House aide resigned in January but questions remain about whether she was forced out. Photo / AP
"There's a lot of people that want to stab me in the back, kind of similar to the White House," said Manigault Newman during her first day in the house. "The one thing that I learned from politics is you have to watch your back, and sometimes you have to watch your front, too."
