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Omarosa Compares Departure From White House to Being 'Freed Off of a Plantation'

February 26, 2018

Omarosa Manigault Newman compared her departure from President Donald Trump's White House to being "freed off of a plantation" in a clip released Sunday.

Manigault Newman joined the cast of the CBS reality television show "Celebrity Big Brother" in January, after serving in the Trump administration as the director of communications for the White House Office of Public Liaison for almost a year. On Sunday, however, Manigualt Newman's fellow contestants evicted her from the "Celebrity Big Brother" house, but not before she took several shots at the White House.

The reality television star told her castmates that her former White House colleagues ignored her and singled her out for derision because she was African-American and a woman.

"I was literally the only African-American woman in the senior staff. Nobody knows what I went through," Manigault Newman said. "I'm inside trying to fight for my own political life while I'm going into meetings with people who are ignoring me. Because I was black, people wouldn't even talk to me. And it wasn't just the black thing; it was the woman thing."

"These men felt like: 'We don't need any woman telling us what to do.' And then here's the president going, 'Did you ask Omarosa what she thinks?' So then they hated me more," Manigault Newman added. "I'm trying to figure out, why am I cut out of this meeting? Why don't I know about the decision that's impacting black children, or why won't you tell me about the welfare reform meeting? I'm the one that was on welfare. Shouldn't I be the one helping you?"

White House chief of staff John Kelly fired Manigualt Newman in December for abusing the White House car service, according to reports. Trump administration officials alleged that she used the car service, known as "CARPET," as a private taxi service to ferry her to and from work. The federal government expressly forbids such practices.

Manigualt Newman said that her departure from the White House was a relief and compared the process to being "freed" from a "plantation."

"Ooh, freedom, I'm emancipated," she said. "I feel like I just got freed off of a plantation."

Manigault Newman also told her fellow castmates that she held back her criticism of the president for so long out of loyalty, adding that would no longer be the case moving forward.

"All the stuff that I just put on a shelf somewhere out of loyalty, I've been defending somebody for so long ... they're about to learn all about it," she said.

Manigault Newman also discussed her plans for the future, expressing a desire to write a behind-the-scenes memoir about her personal and professional relationship with Trump. She admitted that such an endeavor would likely cause a protracted legal battle between her and Trump.

"I'm thinking of writing a tell-all sometime," Manigault Newman said. "He's going to come after me with everything he has. Like, I'm going up against a kazillionaire. So I'll probably end up in court ... but I have to tell my truth. I'm tired of being muted."

The former White House aide developed a relationship with Trump back when she appeared as a contestant on NBC's "The Apprentice."

Since joining "Celebrity Big Brother," Manigault Newman has not tried to hide her criticism of Trump and his administration. In a previous episode of the show, Manigault Newman said that she is "haunted" by Trump's tweets "every single day."