Despite enjoying a free promotional campaign via President Donald Trump’s tweets, Omarosa Manigault Newman’s sensational tell-all book of life in the White House is reportedly flopping with readers.
As the Washington Post reports, despite a good first week that coincided with non-stop media attention as the former Trump staffer visited every news talk show on cable television, it wasn’t enough to provide the kind of momentum that any political biography requires in the age of internet news.
“Unhinged” sold 34,000 in the week after it hit bookshelves on Aug. 14, but sales have plummeted by 40 percent in the second week — a sorry omen for the printed word in 2018.
The memoir made scandalous claims of racism in the White House and suggested the president was suffering from some sort of mental illness as Trump was unable to resist mixing it up with Newman over Twitter, meeting every accusation with a counter-accusation and name-calling.
“When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out,” Trump tweeted the same day “Unhinged” was released. “Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!”
When you give a crazed, crying lowlife a break, and give her a job at the White House, I guess it just didn’t work out. Good work by General Kelly for quickly firing that dog!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 14, 2018
The Post suggests that Newman may have received too much publicity and readers don’t believe there’s anything more to be gleaned from reading the book.
As Fox News notes, even some conservative commentators were saying that Trump was too willing to mix it up with Newman and was being used to sell the book.
“In many ways, [Omarosa] seems to have outsmarted the president, who has taken the bait and gone out and tweeted directly after her,” quipped, “Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade.