Omarosa: Trump is running for president to exact his revenge

A lot has been made of Donald Trump’s run for president being fueled by resentment among the electorate—especially white, working-class voters. But if a trusted Trump surrogate is to be believed, Trump’s campaign has always, from the start, been about resentment—his own. And taking office would be his “revenge.”

Former Apprentice contestant, reality TV star and Trump supporter Omarosa Manigault will appear in a new Frontline documentary about the 2016 election where she opened up about what motivated the billionaire to run for office:

Every critic, every detractor, will have to bow down to President Trump. It’s everyone who’s ever doubted Donald, who ever disagreed, who ever challenged him. It is the ultimate revenge to become the most powerful man in the universe.

If that sounds ominous when you read it, try listening to it with the dramatic Frontline music running underneath (@4:47):

In the clip of the upcoming special released by PBS, Omarosa recounted how the ribbing that Trump received from President Barack Obama at the 2011 White House Correspondents’ Dinner played a big role in Trump’s eventual decision to run for president.

“It just kept going and going and he just kept hammering him,” she told Frontline. “And I thought, ‘Oh, Barack Obama is starting something that I don’t know if he’ll be able to finish.”

The 2011 Correspondents’ Dinner is often cited as a key moment in Donald Trump’s political evolution. Longtime Trump friend Roger Stone told Frontline, “I think that is the night that he resolves to run for president.” Trump biographer Michael D’Antonio characterizes how Trump channelled his anger that night into a presidential run by saying, “It’s personal, this is a burning personal need [Trump] has to redeem himself from being humiliated by the first black president.”

Omarosa has been a key confidant of Trump’s since her appearance on The Apprentice in 2004. Earlier this year she took on a formal role with the campaign, becoming Trump’s Director of African-American Outreach.

Omarosa’s dark comments about Trump’s motivations are in line with the cutthroat image she has cultivated since her years on The Apprentice. In 2013, TV Guide included her on their list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. It’s fitting that, in 2016, she now plays the role of grim foreshadower, warning us all of the coming day when we will bow down before ~~Emperor~~ President Trump.