Omarosa Manigault Newman has alleged that there is a recording of President Trump using the N-word from his time hosting NBC's "The Apprentice." | Saul Loeb/Getty Images Tape shows Trump campaign staffers discussing racial slur, Omarosa says

A new recording released Tuesday by former White House staffer Omarosa Manigault Newman appears to feature a discussion between three Trump campaign officials strategizing over a response to an embarrassing remark by the president that Manigault Newman claims was a racial slur.

The recording appears to show Manigault Newman, along with Trump campaign aides Katrina Pierson and Lynne Patton, discussing during the 2016 campaign how to respond to something inappropriate candidate Donald Trump said, although they do not specify on the tape what word or words he used. Manigault Newman has alleged that there is a recording of Trump using the N-word from his time hosting NBC's "The Apprentice" and that that is what she, Pierson and Patton were discussing.


"I'm trying to find out at least what context it was used in, to help us maybe try to figure out a way to spin it," a woman, identified as Pierson by Manigault Newman, said on the tape.

"I said, 'Well, sir, can you think of any time this might have happened?' and he said 'No,'" Patton said, according to the tape, to which Manigault Newman replied, "Well, that's not true."

"He goes, 'How do you think I should handle it?' and I told him exactly what you just said, Omarosa," Patton continued, "which is 'Well, it depends on what scenario you're talking about.' And he said, 'Well, why don't you just go ahead and put it to bed.'"

"He said it," Pierson interjected. "No, he said it. He's embarassed."





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After the recording was made public Tuesday by CBS, Pierson said rumors about the alleged "n-word tape" had been created and circulated by Manigault Newman. Appearing Monday night on Fox News, Pierson denied having a conversation that Manigault Newman wrote about in her book about Trump's alleged usage of a racial slur.

“During the 2016 campaign, we heard rumors about an alleged tape from 'The Apprentice.”' It’s clear now that those rumors were always being circulated by Omarosa and her alone. In her secret tape recording of me, it was one of many times that I would placate Omarosa to move the discussion along because I was weary of her obsession over this alleged tape," Pierson said. "To be clear, I never organized a conference call with Jason Miller to confirm Mr. Trump said anything. That discussion was nothing other than sifting through unconfirmed rumors regarding the Apprentice tape and the transcript supports my statement. Omarosa fabricated the story by conflating numerous discussions."

Patton also spoke out Monday night via a statement issued on Twitter denying allegations made by Manigault Newman.

"To be clear, at no time did I participate in a conference call with Katrina Pierson advising me, Jason Miller and Omarosa Manigault-Newman that Frank Luntz had heard President Donald J. Trump use a derogatory racial term - a claim that Luntz himself has also denied," Patton said, referring to a passage in Manigault Newman's book. "It should be abundantly clear to everyone that not only is her book a complete work of fiction, but that the existence of this elusive 'N-word' tape is a figment of her imagination and merely a destructive tool of manipulation applied only when it best serves her interests."

The tape released Tuesday is the latest in a string of recordings released by Manigault Newman, who is currently promoting her new memoir of her time in the White House. She also recorded chief of staff John Kelly firing her in the White House's Situation Room, which has prompted concerns among White House security experts.

The president, too, has called Manigault Newman's credibility into question in recent days, labeling her on Monday as a liar and suggesting that she tearfully begged him for an administration position. He blasted her on Twitter after her appearance on CBS News on Tuesday morning.

"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 said in a tweet.

The incendiary claims in Manigault Newman's book have prompted questions about her credibility, not just from allies of the president but from the media as well. But the former reality TV star said Tuesday morning on CBS that everything printed in her book inside quotation can be corroborated with other evidence, including audio recordings. With publicity around Manigault Newman's allegations escalating, the Trump campaign filed for arbitration proceedings against her on Tuesday.

Earlier Tuesday, White House adviser Kellyanne Conway questioned Manigault Newman's allegations on Fox News, saying she has never heard Trump use a racial slur. In her book, Manigault Newman accuses Trump of using racial slurs to describe Conway's husband, George Conway, who is half Filipino. George Conway called that allegation "absurd" and "ridiculous."

"I have never heard the president issue a racial slur about anyone in the two-plus years I've been working alongside him without interruption," Kellyanne Conway said. "I know her mother, I know her husband, I always thought I had a good relationship with them and with her. So I want to say, she never pulled me aside, never said to me, 'Listen, I heard the president say this and I don't know what to do with it.' Not only did I never hear it, but I think she is out there saying she never heard it, either."

Asked why she would secretly record her conversations in the Trump campaign and White House, Manigault Newman told CBS that she did so to cover her back.

"In Trump world, everyone lies. Everyone says one thing one day and they change their story the next day. I wanted to have this type of documentation so that in the event I found myself in this position where, as you said, they're questioning my credibility, saying they never discussed the N-word tape, they had never heard these accusations, the president had never heard these accusations, when, in fact, this tape proves that they discussed it at high levels of the Trump campaign," Manigault Newman said.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.