Trump official has ‘never shied away from having a good relationship’ with Louis Farrakhan

Omarosa Manigault, a former reality TV star turned White House adviser to President Donald Trump, opened up Thursday about her relationship with Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan.

“I think any of your audience would know that I’ve never shied away from having an open — and I believe a good — relationship with Louis Farrakhan,” she said during an interview on Chicago talk-radio station WVON. “I would look forward to receiving that invitation and sitting down with him.”

Farrakhan, who has been the leader of the Nation of Islam for 40 years, is quite a controversial character. In fact, the left-leaning Southern Poverty Law Center says his group’s beliefs are centered on “somewhat bizarre and fundamentally anti-white theology.”

And the SPLC describes Farrakhan as “an anti-Semite who routinely accuses Jews of manipulating the U.S. government and controlling the levers of world power.”

Last year, Farrakhan praised then-candidate Trump for rejecting “Jewish” money.

“ is the only member who has stood in front of Jewish community and said, ‘I don’t want your money,’ ” he said during the Nation of Islam’s annual Saviours’ Day sermon, according to the Anti-Defamation League.

He noted at the time that he wasn’t endorsing Trump, but said, “I like what I’m looking at.”

The minister also told conspiracy theorist Alex Jones that Trump was “wise” to be skeptical about Muslims immigrating to the United States “because the hatred for America is in the streets now.

“Now, if you let them in and you don’t vet them carefully, you might be letting in your own destruction,” he told Jones in 2016.

Manigault didn’t offer many details about her connection to Farrakhan. She spent most of the 20-minute radio interview discussing the Trump administration and how the White House plans to appeal to the black community.

While she said Trump has focused most of his policies toward all Americans and not toward specific communities, Manigault indicated that some minority groups that have reached out to the White House have had some success.

For example, Manigault said, the Congressional Black Caucus advocated for a specific list of budgetary priorities and, as a result, next year’s budget will include funding for year-round Pell Grants — a top priority for the CBC.

In the White House, Manigault, who serves as the communications director for the office of public liaison, said her main focus is advocating for the black community. She told WVON that she reaches out to historically black colleges and universities and works to fight poverty around the world on behalf of the Trump administration.

“It’s not just about politics for me. You have to answer for everything that you do to God one day,” Manigault said. “This, for me, is not politics. I get to see the impact of these policies on a daily basis.”

“But I can't fight by myself, y’all,” she continued. “And so the folks, the leadership have to come to the table and voice their concerns to be heard.”