Sarah Sanders and Hope Hicks Hunted Trump’s Alleged Apprentice ‘N-Word’ Tape Per New Report
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Former White House press secretaries Sarah Huckabee Sanders and Hope Hicks were both involved with the hunt for a rumored clip of President Donald Trump using the n-word during an outtake from The Apprentice, according to a new report.
A damaging new Washington Post report, compiled from “interviews with more than two dozen current and former officials,” adds some new reporting on the n-word tape that had long been rumored to exist when ousted White House official Omarosa Manigault Newman confirmed its existence in her 2018 book.
According to Greg Miller’s reporting, a former White House official says that both Hicks and Sanders were in on the hunt for the tape:
Omarosa Manigault Newman, one of the few Black women to have worked at the White House, said in her 2018 memoir that she was enlisted by White House aides to track down a rumored recording from “The Apprentice” — the reality show on which she was a contestant — in which Trump allegedly used the n-word. A former official said that others involved in the effort included Trump adviser Hope Hicks and former White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders.
The tape, if it exists, was never recovered. But Manigault Newman, who was forced out after clashing with other White House staff, portrayed the effort to secure the tape as evidence that aides saw Trump capable of such conduct. In the book, she described Trump as “a racist, misogynist and bigot.”
In her book, Omarosa claimed she’d told Hicks of her search for the tape, and that she suspected Hicks’ awareness of her investigation was instrumental in her ouster.
The new reporting adds significance to an extraordinary exchange from an August 2018 White House briefing, during which Sanders was asked about the existence of the tape.
NBC News’ Kristen Welker asked Sanders “Can you stand at the podium and guarantee the American people will never hear Donald Trump utter the N-word on a recording in any context?”
“I can’t guarantee anything,” Sanders replied. “I can tell you the president addressed this question directly. I can tell you that I’ve never heard it.”
Read Miller’s full report here.
