Sarah Huckabee Sanders says she 'can't guarantee' that we'll never hear a recording of Trump saying the N-word
- White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday's press briefing that she "can't guarantee" that we'll never hear a recording of President Donald Trump saying the N-word.
- Former White House senior adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman wrote in her newly released memoir "Unhinged" of a tape of Trump saying racial slurs on the set of "The Apprentice".
- In her media blitz on the book, the "Apprentice" star said she heard such a tape after her book went to press.
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during Tuesday's press briefing that she "can't guarantee" that we'll never hear a recording of President Donald Trump saying the N-word.
The exchange came as part of several questions reporters asked about former White House senior adviser Omarosa Manigault Newman's new book, "Unhinged" about her time as a contestant on Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice", on the campaign trail with him, and working in the West Wing.
In the memoir, Manigault Newman claims she and other campaign officials discussed how to handle a tape of Trump saying racial slurs on the set of "The Apprentice."
The White House has flatly denied such a tape exists, and reporters grilled Sanders about Manigault Newman's claims during Tuesday's briefing.
"Can you stand at the podium and guarantee the American people they'll never hear Donald Trump utter the N- word on a recording, in any context?" NBC News White House correspondent Kristen Welker asked.
"I can't guarantee anything," Sanders responded. "But I can tell you that the president addressed this question directly; I can tell you I've never heard it."
Sanders went on to say that neither she nor any other White House staff member would be working in the West Wing if Trump "was who some of his critics claim him to be."
She then touted Trump's economic accomplishments for African Americans, including a dubious claim about black job growth under Trump compared to former President Barack Obama's tenure.
On Monday, Manigault Newman said she heard a recording of Trump using the N-word, which she says she had the opportunity to listen to after her book went to press.
Trump responded to Manigault Newman's claim on Monday, tweeting: "@MarkBurnettTV called to say that there are NO TAPES of the Apprentice where I used such a terrible and disgusting word as attributed by Wacky and Deranged Omarosa. I don't have that word in my vocabulary, and never have. She made it up."
Watch a clip of the press briefing below: