Omarosa Manigault Newman says there’s one way to combat President Donald Trump’s fiery rhetoric and constant attacks on Twitter: Don’t give him the attention.
“There’s one way to shut Donald Trump down and that is to just don’t give him the oxygen,” Manigault Newman, who served as an aide to the president until her dismissal in December, said on “The Daily Show” Tuesday night. “And the oxygen comes from the clicks, the likes, the shock, the discussions.”
Her comments amid a headline-grabbing media tour promoting her new book Unhinged, which includes allegations that there is a recording somewhere of Trump using a racial slur during the filming of his reality show, “The Apprentice.” Manigault Newman has released several secret recordings from her time in the administration, including the audio of her being fired by White House chief of staff John Kelly and another of Trump himself speaking to her after her dismissal.
The Trump campaign has taken legal action against the president’s former aide, alleging she violated a nondisclosure agreement.
Manigault Newman noted Tuesday that she couldn’t speak about the recordings due to the lawsuit, but did say recent attacks on people like LeBron James thrilled the president, even as they caused a firestorm of outrage.
“Donald Trump enjoyed every moment of that,” Manigault Newman said. “He enjoyed every single person that was shocked by his abrasiveness, his attack on this African American male athlete ― which is his favorite go-to thing. He loved it and he thrived off it.”
She continued: “If you ignore him, then you starve him of the thing he loves the most ― and that is controversy and attention.”