Donald Trump's director of African-American outreach, Omarosa Manigault was a Democrat, but changed parties to support the Republican nominee.

During an interview with The New York Times Magazine, Omarosa said she changed parties as soon as Trump announced he was running for president and her "decision was to support my friend in his desire to become president of the United States. We jokingly called ourselves Trumplicans in the beginning."

Omarosa competed on "The Apprentice," the reality show hosted by Trump in 2004. At the time, she was called "the woman America loves to hate" for her cutthroat tactics.

African-Americans need to have a greater presence in the Republican Party, "or in any party," she said, calling on independent voters who seek change and support Trump.

"Even his children were not registered Republicans," she added.

The former reality star had been a lifelong Democrat and worked in the personnel office of Bill Clinton's presidential administration.

"As an African-American, that's what we tend to do. African-Americans are loyal to the Democratic Party, but unfortunately, the Democratic Party is not loyal to them," she said.

In 2012, when Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama ran for president, Omarosa began to change her mind about her party affiliation, telling the Times, "At first, I was very much supportive of Hillary, until I saw how she was treating this African-American man.

"I went on to support Barack Obama and work on his campaign in Ohio, but it was then that I saw the fractures in the Democratic Party, and particularly how they treated President Obama. I was really turned off."

Her Christian beliefs are more in line with the Republicans, and "many African-Americans will share in that same platform," she said.

As the head of Trump's African-American outreach, she believes 15 to 20 percent of the African-American vote is possible. Now the campaign is at 8 percent, an improvement over when she started. "When I took the position, we were polling at zero."

According to the Times, polls put Trump's African-American support at 2 percent, but Omarosa replied, "I'll send you the numbers that I have."

Trump made a statement during his campaign that if he is elected, black people would be able to "walk down the street without being shot." The interviewer asked if she is able to walk without fear of shooting in the area where she lives.

"Not necessarily," she said.

The former "Apprentice" star defended Trump against claims of sexual misconduct, telling Extra TV that when they worked together, "He was nothing but professional, encouraging, and supportive."

In August, Omarosa spoke in support of the Republican candidate, saying: "Donald Trump is running for president because he believes that he can help turn the nation around. More importantly, every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to Donald Trump."