Things got heated Monday between “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie and Omarosa Manigault-Newman when the ousted White House aide stopped by the show to promote her latest book “Unhinged.”
The tell-all book comes just months after the White House announced her departure from the White House, where Manigualt-Newman served as director of communications for the Office of Public Liaison under President Donald Trump. Not long after, it was revealed the former “Apprentice” star was actually fired.
On Monday, Guthrie pressed Manigault-Newman about the president and the day of her termination, and things quickly went left.
“Wait, Savannah … you can’t ask a question and then ask another question without my answer,” she remarked as the host pegged her with multiple questions at once.
At one point, Guthrie asked if she thought Trump lied often, to which Manigault-Newman responded, “oh, absolutely” before citing a report about the president telling an estimated 4,000 lies in the last year alone. The host cut her off yet again, however, after which the former reality star told Guthrie to “slow down” with her questions.
“Savannah, calm down,” she said coyly. “I’m gonna answer your questions, don’t worry. We have all the time we need. You don’t have to ask 10 questions in one second.”
In another awkward exchange, Guthrie questioned Manigault-Newman about an alleged recording she has of Trump using a racial slur on the set of “The Apprentice.” The ex-White House aide dodged the question, however, and urged viewers to just “read the book.” That’s when Guthrie claimed that particular accusation wasn’t in the book.
“Have you read the book?” Manigault Newman asked Guthrie, to which the host replied, “Yes.”
“Well, I answered that question Savannah, so what’s the next one?” she clapped back.
The heated interview drew mixed reactions from viewers, some of whom who slammed Guthrie for the trainwreck of an interview.
“Two wrongs don’t make a right,” one viewer wrote. “Both of the people in this interview were rude to each other. One person can’t ask one question before getting the answer and the other person was evasive in answering the questions. One of the worst interviews EVER!”
“… I do NOT like Omarosa but she’s right about one thing: Savannah needs to allow a guest time to respond to the first question before asking a 2nd or 3rd,” another person wrote. “That is incredibly rude and super annoying to the guest and viewer.”
One viewer simply stated, “Savannah is amateurish…”
Others accused Guthrie of letting Manigault-Newton “walk all over her” instead of taking control of the interview.
“I cannot believe you let her run that entire interview,” one woman wrote. “SO rude and she didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know. You should’ve ended it when she told you to ‘calm down.'”
Watch more of their tense exchange below.
