Omarosa On ‘The View’ Defends Trump, Slams Joy Behar [Video]

Omarosa Manigault sparred with the ladies of The View on Friday about President Trump, and things got particularly tense with co-host Joy Behar in the process.

As with most debates of this nature, half the people will likely conclude Omarosa schooled The View, while the other half will contend that The View schooled Omarosa, in her first appearance on the show since 2004.

Like her or hate her, the former Apprentice and Celebrity Apprentice villain prevented The View hosts from shouting her down, which was not the case, for example, when Trump senior advisor and former campaign manager Kellyanne Conway appeared on the show in September and had a difficult time getting a word in.

One of Trump’s most loyal surrogates during the campaign, who was then director of African-American outreach, Omarosa is now assistant to the president and director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison in the White House. She is a former Democrat (as was Trump) who worked in the Bill Clinton White House.

“The conversation quickly turned nasty, with hosts Joy Behar and Sunny Hostin repeatedly hammering Omarosa to defend Trump. But Omarosa wouldn’t let the Democratic talking points slide, even attacking the panel for not focusing on ‘real issues,'” NewsBusters claimed. Jezebel described the encounter as a “fun bickerfest.”

When asked by co-host Sunny Hostin if she was just a token, given that the black community voted overwhelmingly Democrat in this (as well as past) presidential elections, Omarosa fired back that “First of all, no one uses me,” which generated audience applause. She also noted that Trump improved upon 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney’s share of the African-American vote.

In describing herself as the embodiment of the American Dream, Omarosa explained that she grew up on public assistance while living in a Youngstown, Ohio, housing project, overcame family tragedies, and received a degree from Howard University. “I earned my way to sit in the White House. No one gave me anything, okay?” She also underscored that the Trump administration has a strategic plan to address issues in inner city communities.

Both her father and brother were apparently murder victims, Omarosa revealed during the discussion.

In one testy exchange with Behar, Omarosa asserted that “Joy, I know it’s gotta be really hard after, you know, the last year and a half of all the things that you said about Donald to see him sitting in the Oval Office. I know it’s going to be hard for you,” and chided Behar for an unwillingness to step back and give Trump a chance now that the campaign is over.

The flurry of Executive Orders this week alone showed that Trump is serious about putting America first, Omarosa insisted.

Omarosa also managed to deflect much of the panel’s criticism of President Trump in the context of his divisive campaign rhetoric.

“You all can sit at the table and continue to talk about those things in the media but we have a job to address–we have a job to make sure the American people have exactly what they need…You all can keep throwing things at me, I’m not going to really fall for that. What I will say is the American people can listen to me right now and right here. We are committed to making this country the best it’s going to be. We’re not going to look in the past. We are going to look forward and put this country first. And that’s not been happening the last eight years…”

Omarosa also praised both the Women’s March and the March for Life as being fundamental to constitutional rights and noted that she is planning an “extravagant” Black History Month program for the Trump administration.

At the end of the segment, Omarosa sidetracked Joy Behar’s question about President Trump’s unreleased tax returns when she identified her fiance in the front row of the audience, telling Behar — in what sounded like a prepared, if not cringe-worthy, personal zinger — “I’m so happy that he’s here with me, and he brings me such joy. And I hope that you one day can find that kind of joy, Joy, in your life.”

When Donald Trump fired Omarosa from the Celebrity Apprentice All-Stars in 2013, the future president stated that he “adored” her and admitted that she was a prime mover in making the original Apprentice(i.e., the non-celebrity version) a big success and helping make Trump a TV star.

The Omarosa segment starts at about 11 minutes in. Watch the entire discussion in the embedded footage below and draw your own conclusions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDLAC1qQDsc

On the November 9 broadcast, Joy Behar declared that the The View is the only checks and balances on the Trump administration.

Other than libertarian Jedediah Bila, The View is dominated by liberal panelists who supported Hillary Clinton. Mediaite claims that The View pulled its punches with Omarosa, however, with aggressive Trump foe Whoopi Goldberg “conveniently absent,” so that other Trump administration officials would be willing to go on the show in the future. ABC has denied that allegation.

[Featured Image by Evan Agostini/AP Images]