Robin Roberts Said 'Bye, Felicia' to Omarosa. Now, a 'Civil War'

According to Omarosa, that is
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 15, 2017 1:21 PM CST
Omarosa on Robin Roberts: It's a 'Black Woman Civil War'
In this April 27, 2017, file photo, Omarosa Manigault Newman speaks at in New York.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew, File)

Omarosa was booted from (or left) the White House, Robin Roberts dismissed her with a "bye, Felicia" on Good Morning America, and now Omarosa has declared a "black woman civil war" against the morning show host, Fox News reports. Omarosa had appeared on GMA Thursday to offer her side of things in the White House hubbub, and after the camera cut away from Omarosa's interview, in which she said she had a story she'd ultimately tell of her White House days, the camera turned to Roberts, who noted, "She says she has a story to tell, and I'm sure she will be selling that story. Yeah. Bye, Felicia." The soon-to-be ex-White House staffer (if her January resignation date still stands) says Roberts was "petty" for her remarks. More on the Omarosa storm swirling online:

  • "Bye, Felicia" was actually the "ultimate" way for Roberts to say her goodbyes to Omarosa, the New York Daily News notes. The paper rehashes the phrase's history and offers rapper Ice Cube's explainer on its essence, which is a way "to get anybody out of your face that's saying something stupid." It's originally from his 1995 comedy Friday.

  • Per CNN, Omarosa was the only African-American out of 22 White House personnel commanding the top salary there of $179,700. And how diverse Trump's staff is overall now that Omarosa's gone is being broached: Per the Washington Post's count, the president now has zero African-American senior advisers. There are two black men in his administration—HUD Secretary Ben Carson and Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams—but they're not technically part of the White House staff.
  • The Hill notes how the drama with Omarosa could prove to be a headache for everyone else in the White House, with some waiting to see what "horrible things" she may now spew about her former colleagues. That's because sources say she probably won't attack the president himself, but instead go after everyone else in that orb.
  • Sean Spicer isn't sure how she made her way into the White House in the first place. Per the Daily Beast, when the ex-press secretary was asked on Laura Ingraham's Fox News show why Trump hired her, he said, "I don't know." When pressed about how qualified she was, Spicer added: "Look, she was very loyal to the president. ... I think the president brought a lot of people who wanted to fulfill his agenda. ... But I don't—I'm not really sure."

  • Late-night hosts offered their own eyerolls. Per the Los Angeles Times, Seth Meyers, responding to Omarosa's claim that she and chief of staff John Kelly discussed her leaving in the White House's Situation Room, noted: "I have a feeling that any room Omarosa goes into becomes a situation room. Seriously, you know it's bad when they have to fire you in the same place they killed Osama bin Laden." Meanwhile, the Daily Beast reports on Trevor Noah's take, which was that Omarosa "was not fighting for black people" during her tenure. "Slow down, Omarosa Parks. … You can't roll with President Trump for a year and then come back to the neighborhood like, 'Hey, that was really weird, right? Anyone else notice that?'"
  • For her part, Omarosa views Trump as "racial," but not "racist." More on her side of things at HuffPo.
  • Should there even be this many typography bullets dedicated to Omarosa at all? CNBC reporter John Harwood tweeted that this palace intrigue is "the dumbest story ever." The Washington Post takes a closer look at this meta-soap opera playing out around the former reality-TV star.
(More Omarosa stories.)

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