Frank Luntz described Omarosa Manigault’s allegation that he had heard President Donald Trump “use the n-word” as a “flat-out lie” via his Twitter profile on Friday.

I’m in @Omarosa’s book on page 149. She claims to have heard from someone who heard from me that I heard Trump use the N-word. Not only is this flat-out false (I’ve never heard such a thing), but Omarosa didn’t even make an effort to call or email me to verify. Very shoddy work. — Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 10, 2018

It seems like certain book publishers these days care more about getting a release out than getting the facts down. This is why people don’t trust these “exposés,” which is especially bad for authors who actually are good and reliable. https://t.co/tkFyrtdOMW — Frank Luntz (@FrankLuntz) August 10, 2018

Manigault starred in NBC’s reality show The Apprentice while it was hosted by Trump. She subsequently joined the Trump administration as a communications aide.

Manigault’s forthcoming book, Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House, alleges that Trump repeatedly used the n-word during production of The Apprentice.

In an interview with government-funded NPR, Manigault referred to an “N-word tape” — outtake video from The Apprentice — which she claims is evidence of Trump using the n-word. NPR noted a discrepancy between Manigault’s interview claims and those in her forthcoming book, highlighting a passage from the latter in which Manigault alleges to have heard from one of her “sources” about the “N-word tape”:

Incredibly, this person – who shall remain nameless – picked up the phone. We spoke. 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. During production he was miked, and there is definitely an audio track. For over a year I’d been so afraid of hearing the specifics from someone who’d been in the room. Hearing the truth freed me from that fear. And only now that it’s gone, do I realize just how heavy it’s been.

NPR describes Manigault’s “search for the N-word tape” as “a core piece of the narrative [in her book].”

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