Late-night hosts across the dial dug into former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman’s recent bombshell announcements that she had recorded conversations during her time working for President Donald Trump and her labeling of the president as a “racist.”
On The Late Show, host Stephen Colbert noted that Manigault-Newman was just the latest in a long line of disgruntled former Trump administration employees. “The White House is basically a reboot of the Last Supper: Oops! All Judases,” Colbert quipped.
“Her most shocking allegation is that she had heard a tape…where Donald Trump used the N-word,” Colbert said, showing a clip of Manigault Newman on Sunday’s Meet the Press during which she called Trump a racist. “Finally, we have proof that a guy who refused to rent to black tenants, said that a Nazi-Klan rally had some fine people and called Africa a shithole is a racist.”
Over on Late Night, host Seth Meyers dedicated much of his “Closer Look” segment to Manigault Newman and Trump. “Now that he’s bogged down in a ridiculous feud with an aide who’s as good as he is at orchestrating a reality show spectacle, Trump is suddenly slamming the credibility of somebody who was once one of his closest confidantes,” Meyers said. “You know what made Omarosa look legitimate? Putting her in the White House…. I can’t wait until Trump’s forced to resign and President Mike Pence tweets, ‘Please ignore this disgruntled employee, he has no credibility!'”
“This is what happens when you’re a con artist who surrounds himself with other con artists,” Meyers continued. “You think you’re picking everyone else’s pockets and then one day you reach for your own wallet and it’s not there and you look up and Michael Cohen’s eating it.”
Over at The Daily Show, Trevor Noah was quick to poke fun at Manigault Newman for failing to acknowledge Trump’s faults immediately.
“Seriously, though? Manigault Newman had to spend a year in the White House to learn that Donald Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing? I can’t wait for her next book, Donald Trump: Something’s Wrong With His Hair,” the late-night host said.
Noah then argued that though Manigault Newman is treating the tapes as “evidence that she was treated unfairly,” the tapes don’t reflect Chief of Staff John Kelly in a bad light, but rather as a guy “who had a lot more important things to do.” Noah emphasized that the tapes could also simply be putting Omarosa in hot water.
Meanwhile, after Manigault Newman released a recording of Trump expressing his disbelief that she was fired, Noah admitted that he wasn’t entirely convinced by the president’s frustrations. “For a man who lies as much as Trump, you’d think he be better at it.”
Noah further argued, “What is shocking is how many people are secretly recording the president of the United States all the time.… I’m surprised there’s not feedback loops to everyone.… Everyone has a recording of the president.…There just needs to be a Grammy category for these at this point.”
On Jimmy Kimmel Live!, the host noted, “If Omarosa was able to get secret recordings of Trump, Vladimir Putin knows every porn star name that he’s ever whispered.”
Jimmy Fallon addressed the feud by reminding The Tonight Show audience that while there was a new episode of Bachelor in Paradise that night, “if you really want to see some reality stars go at it on TV, just check out Omarosa and President Trump.”
“She claims President Trump has mentally declined,” Fallon said of the content in Manigault Newman’s book. “Trump was furious and said, ‘This book is an outrage and wait, what were we talking about?'”
Fallon then played an audio recording of Omarosa being fired by Kelly in the White House’s Situation Room, which she shared while visiting Meet the Press. “Turns out anytime someone asks, ‘Is the president aware of what’s going on?’ Kelly says, ‘Let’s not go down that road.'”
“Experts said nobody’s ever made a recording in that room,” added Fallon. “And the one guy said, ‘That you know about,'” he said with his best Putin impression.
Fallon then played the audio clip of Manigault Newman and Trump’s phone call in which he denies being involved in her firing. “Trump’s like your friend who pretends to be sad when plans get canceled. He’s like, ‘What? You’re sick. You can’t do brunch? Damn it,'” said Fallon as he thrust his fist in celebration of the canceled plans.
The host then added that Manigault Newman made claims in her book that she once caught Trump eating paper. “On the bright side that’s actually the healthiest thing he’s ever eaten, but still,” said Fallon. “I think Trump was just confused cause it was a note from an angry staffer that said, ‘Eat me.'”
“Before all this got out, Trump’s campaign tried to keep Manigault Newman quiet by offering her $180,000 in hush money,” said Fallon. “When Stormy Daniels heard that, she was like, ‘Oh my God. What’d she have to do for the extra $50,000?'”
James Corden also addressed the situation on The Late Late Show.
After sharing that Manigault Newman released the audio recording of Kelly firing her, the host explained that Kelly said she was fired due to “significant integrity issues.” Corden responded, “Nothing says ‘I don’t have integrity issues’ like recording your boss in the top-secret Situation Room.”
Corden explained that Kelly told Manigault Newman that her reputation will stay intact if she leaves her position on friendly terms. “That’s also what they tell me when I’m asked to leave Ben & Jerry’s,” he said.
The host then reflected on Manigault Newman’s claims that Trump’s mental state is declining. “I mean, come on. We’ve seen the tweets. He’s not fooling anyone,” said Corden. “She’s saying Trump has mentally declined. This begs the question, Was Donald Trump ever mentally inclined?'”
Corden then shared the phone conversation between Manigault Newman and Trump. “I wasn’t sure if the recording was real or not until the part where Trump admits he doesn’t know what’s going on in the White House. Then I knew it was solid,” he said.
“It’s come to light that there are more recordings. My staff, we’ve been poring through all of the tapes and I’ve got to say some of them are pretty alarming,” said Corden before sharing a series of fake phone conversations between the two.
“Many people are being very unfair to my friend The Hamburglar,” said Trump in the Late Late Show audio. He said later in the conversation, “Dogs are boys and cats are girls.”
Another mock phone conversation began with Trump saying that he received terrible news from his doctor. “He told me that taco salads aren’t actually salads. They’re just very, very, very big tacos,” said Trump. “I’m deporting his entire family.”
The final phone conversation starts with Trump telling Manigault Newman about a new cereal called Bubblicious. “Believe me, it’s going to be huge,” he said. Trump then asked, “How come Oprah doesn’t have a last name?”
