Omarosa Responds to Trump Calling Her a "Dog"

The president referred to Omarosa Manigault Newman — formerly the top African-American in his White House — as "that dog!" Tuesday morning.

Omarosa Manigault Newman told MSNBC's Katy Tur on Tuesday that President Trump "should be afraid of being exposed as the misogynist and racist that he is."

During the latest press stop on her book tour, the former reality TV star responded to the president referring to her as "that dog" earlier in the day.

"I think that it just shows you that if he would say that publicly, what else would he say about me privately?" she said. Claiming, "He has absolutely no respect for women, for African-Americans, as evidence by him instructing the chief of staff to lock me for two hours in the Situation Room, to harass me, to threaten me and say that things could get very ugly for me and that there would be damage to my reputation."

Adding, "He is unfit to be in this office and to serve as the president of the United States."

The war of words between Manigault Newman and Trump escalated Tuesday when the president took to Twitter to refer to his former aide — who was the top African-American in his White House — as "that dog." When tweeting in response to Manigault Newman's press tour for her tell-all memoir Unhinged: An Insider's Account of the Trump White House, officially out Tuesday, Trump has referred to his longtime colleague as "wacky," "deranged" and a "lowlife," but the latest racially charged reference sparked renewed outrage.

"When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!" Trump tweeted.

Invoking derogatory words and phrases Trump has used about women and minorities in the past, Tur asked Manigault Newman about the president's treatment of women in the White House. Manigault Newman said Trump had nicknames for "everyone," including Tur; Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos, whom she said Trump would call "Ditzy Devos"; and Chief of Staff John Kelly.

"Because of his small ability to communicate, he would give them these derogatory nicknames and it just wasn't appropriate," Manigault Newman said. "He does treat women differently, I think as evidence by the lack of female appointees in his administration; the lack of high-level senior advisers, women, in his administration and throughout all the different agencies. He treats them different because he believes that they're beneath him."

Manigault Newman generalized Trump's behavior with women by saying, "He would grab women, kiss them, unsolicited, anytime, any day."

Trump's tweet came Tuesday morning as Manigualt Newman released another recording to CBS News, this time showing campaign workers discussing an alleged recording of Trump using the N-word.

Manigault Newman, a former star on Trump's Apprentice, has been on a publicity tour for her book, in which she writes that she has heard that such a tape of Trump making the racial slur while on the set of the NBC reality series exists. On Sunday, she said she listened to one recording after the book closed.

Trump has pushed back against the claim, citing an apparent call from Apprentice producer Mark Burnett as proof that "there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa." Trump has insisted, "I don't have that word in my vocabulary, and never have."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders has said the book is "riddled with lies and false accusations." Sanders, in a press briefing that followed the MSNBC appearance, said Trump's "dog" tweet was "not about race" and instead was about "calling out someone's lack of integrity."

Also on Tuesday morning, the Trump campaign planned to file an arbitration action against Manigault Newman, alleging that her book tour and memoir breach a 2016 confidentiality agreement.

"I don't believe that I violated it but I'm going to leave that to the lawyers to sort that out," Manigault Newman told Tur. "It's interesting that he is trying to silence me. What is he trying to hide? What is he afraid of? If he hadn't said anything that was derogatory or demeaning to African-Americans and to women, why would he be going to this extent to shut me down?"

Manigault Newman, who has revealed two other audio recordings from her time at the White House, defended her credibility during the Tuesday appearance. She would not comment on whether or not she has more tapes to release.