White House dismisses Omarosa claims because she 'was fired 3 times on 'The Apprentice''

William Cummings | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Omarosa compares 'Big Brother' to White House America’s favorite TV villain turned White House adviser, Omarosa Manigault-Newman says reality TV isn't so different from Washington. Nathan Rousseau Smith explains.

Can one's credibility be judged based on their performance on a reality-TV show?

White House deputy press secretary Raj Shah implied that it can during a news conference Thursday.

Shah was asked about comments critical of the administration made by former aide to President Trump — and former contestant on The Apprentice — Omarosa Manigault Newman.

He said the White House was not taking her remarks "very seriously."

"Omarosa was fired three times on The Apprentice and this was the fourth time we let her go," Shah said. "She had limited contact with the president while here. She has no contact now."

More: Omarosa tearfully opens up about Trump White House on 'Big Brother': 'It's not going to be OK'

Manigault Newman left her position as assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison in December.

Although media reports said she had been fired and had to be escorted off the White House property by Secret Service agents, the White House confirmed Manigault Newman's statement that she resigned and the Secret Service denied any involvement in her termination.

Manigault Newman has now returned to reality TV as a contestant on Big Brother: Celebrity Edition and she wasted no time trashing the Trump administration on the show.

On the season premiere Wednesday night, Manigault Newman compared Big Brother, where housemates are pitted against each other, to working in the White House because both were full of people "that want to stab me in the back."

Manigault Newman said that during her time working in the White House she was "haunted" by Trump's tweets and was constantly stressed about what the president might say next on Twitter.

She tried to intervene about the tweets but "the people around him attacked me" and wouldn't let her talk to Trump, she said.

When another Big Brother contestant asked Manigault Newman if people should worry about the state of affairs in the White House, she had to wipe away tears.

"It's bad," she said. "It's not going to be OK. It's not."

After Manigault Newman's December departure from the White House, she told Good Morning America that "as the only African-American " in Trump's White House, "I have seen things that made me uncomfortable, upset me ... and affected my community and my people."