Trump scorches Omarosa ahead of book release: ‘She’s a lowlife’

President Trump blasted his former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman on Saturday amid fallout from the former staffer’s claim that she had heard audio of the president using the “N-word” and making other racist remarks.

Trump told press pool reporters on Saturday at his Bedminster, N.J., resort that Manigault Newman was a “lowlife.” Trump was responding to a question from New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman about Manigault Newman’s claims.

“Lowlife. She’s a lowlife,” Trump responded.

In the press pool today, I asked @realDonaldTrump if he had a response to Omarosa. He held hand to mouth, as if to whisper: “Lowlife. She’s a lowlife.”

— Maggie Haberman (@maggieNYT) August 11, 2018

Reporter: “Do you feel betrayed by Omarosa?”

President Trump: “Lowlife. She’s a lowlife.” pic.twitter.com/UeRgHSdYGJ

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) August 11, 2018

The remark comes as Trump’s first public denunciation of Manigault Newman’s claims since she kicked off her press tour this week ahead of the release of her tell-all book about her time working for Trump.

In “Unhinged: An Insider Account of the Trump White House,” Manigault Newman makes an number of damaging claims against the president, including that she heard from a friend about a recording while filming for “The Apprentice” in which Trump allegedly used the “N-word” and made other racist remarks.

{mosads}

“On this phone conversation, I was told exactly what Donald Trump said — yes, the N-word and others in a classic Trump-goes-nuclear rant — and when he’d said them,” Manigault Newman’s book reads, according to excerpts.

Manigault Newman contradicted those claims Friday, saying that she had heard the tape personally.

“I heard the tape,” she said, adding: “Hearing it changed everything for me.”

The former aide has also claimed that the White House offered her a nondisclosure agreement upon firing her, which she claims was related to her search for audio of Trump’s reported use of the “N-word.”

The White House denied Manigault Newman’s claims Friday, slamming her as a “disgruntled former White House employee” who is “trying to profit off of these false attacks.”