Donald Trump's director of African-American outreach has an ominous warning for all who dared to criticize the Republican presidential nominee: Soon, they will have to bow down to "the most powerful man in the universe."

No, really. Omarosa Manigault, a reality-show personality who joined the Trump campaign as a staffer in July, told PBS -- out loud, on the record, on camera -- "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It's everyone who's ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe."

Eight years ago, one of the more common Republican criticisms of then-Sen. Barack Obama was that he had a messianic streak. Talk of "Greek columns" at the Democratic convention was one of the most popular GOP talking points of 2008.

Try to imagine what the reaction might have been if an Obama campaign aide had said, "Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Obama."



Of course, quotes like this one stand out largely because they fit into a pattern. Let's not forget, for example, that in his Republican convention speech, Trump boasted, "Nobody knows the system better than me, which is why I alone can fix it.... I am your voice."

Around the same time, Trump told supporters, "I feel like a supermodel, except like times ten. It's true. I'm a supermodel. I'm on the cover of these magazines -- I'm on the cover of the biggest magazines."

A couple of months prior, the Republican declared, "Politicians have used you and stolen your votes. They have given you nothing. I will give you everything. I will give you what you've been looking for for 50 years. I'm the only one."

Remember when rhetoric like this used to be considered creepy in American politics?