New Omarosa tape appears to show Trump staffers discussing N-word tape

A new tape released by former White House aide Omarosa Manigault Newman appears to show several other aides discussing an alleged tape on which President Trump used the N-word.

In the recording obtained by CBS News, Manigault Newman and other aides appear to discuss how to handle fallout from the tape, allegedly from Trump’s time as host of “The Apprentice,” if it were released. 

The recording released by CBS appears to be of an internal call during Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

{mosads}Three voices can be heard on the portion of the call released by CBS: Manigault Newman, former Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson and Lynne Patton, a longtime family friend of Trump’s who now serves as a top official in the Department of Housing and Urban Development, according to CBS. 

While it is not clear from the call whether any of the three women have heard the tape, parts of the discussion suggest that Trump has acknowledged using the racial slur.

“I am trying to find at least what context it was used in to help us maybe try to figure out a way to spin it,” Pierson can be heard saying.

In response, Patton says that she had asked Trump about whether the tape might exist.

“I said, ‘Well, sir, can you think of anytime that this might have happened?’ And he said no,” she said.

Manigault Newman then interjects: “Well, that is not true.” 

Patton then says that Trump has asked her how she thinks the situation should be handled.

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

“He said — no, he said it. He is embarrassed,” Pierson replies.

While Pierson and Patton did not deny the existence of the call with Manigault Newman or the alleged tape, the two issued a joint statement on Tuesday saying they have never had a call confirming that anyone “directly heard Donald J. Trump use derogatory language on this alleged tape.”

Trump also pushed back against the allegations that he used the N-word on the set of “The Apprentice” on Monday and added that Mark Burnett, the creator of the television program, called to say no such tapes exist.

“I don’t have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up,” Trump said on Twitter in a post that derided his former aide as “Wacky and Deranged Omarosa.”

Manigault Newman, who rose to fame on “The Apprentice,” has made repeated claims about the existence of a tape of Trump using the N-word on the set of “The Apprentice.” The former aide is promoting a new book, “Unhinged: An Insider’s Account of the Trump White House.” 

Updated at 10:32 a.m.