Breitbart’s Editor-at-Large Ben Shapiro has called for GOP front-runner Donald Trump to fire campaign manager Corey Lewandowski over his reported rough treatment of fellow Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields on Tuesday:
.@MichelleFields is a terrific and intrepid reporter. Trump should fire Lewandowski immediately. No excuses.
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 10, 2016
Since when is it okay for campaign managers to assault journalists? What the hell is wrong with these people?
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 10, 2016
Field posted her side of the story earlier this morning:
https://twitter.com/NolteNC/status/707896089211437056
Fields says Trump was answering questions from other reporters when she asked him about affirmative action. That’s when Lewandowski reportedly grabbed her arm:
I wasn’t called upon to ask a question during the televised press conference, but afterwards Trump wandered around, stopping at every reporter to take their questions. When he approached me, I asked him about his view on an aspect of affirmative action.
Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.
Last night, the Daily Beast published a story alleging that Breitbart’s head of PR chastised Field’s boyfriend — Daily Caller senior editor Jamie Weinstein — over a series of tweets he posted the night of the incident calling Lewandowski a “thug”:
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https://twitter.com/JimmyPrinceton/status/707767060722536448
Daily Beast: Breitbart PR called @MichelleFields after last night’s incident to scold her https://t.co/5i0JFLZYKR
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) March 10, 2016
Here’s what Weinstein tweeted again on Tuesday night:
Trump always surrounds himself w thugs. Tonight thug Corey Lewandowski tried to pull my gf @MichelleFields to ground when she asked tough q
— Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) March 9, 2016
Say what you will abt Bush or even Obama. They would never tolerate this type of thuggery toward women https://t.co/EfbQH6tFM7
— Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) March 9, 2016
According to the Daily Beast, Lewandowski said he didn’t recognize Fields as a “Breitbart reporter” and that’s why he was so aggressive with her:
Lewandowski’s explanation to Boyle, said these sources, was that he and Fields had never met before and that he didn’t recognize her as a Breitbart reporter, instead mistaking her for an adversarial member of the mainstream media. Trump’s press secretary, Hope Hicks, didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. Nor did the usually responsive Boyle.
More from Shapiro on that revelation:
By the way, "we didn't know she was Breitbart" is an insane excuse. So you now get to assault journalists from other outlets? What the hell?
— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 10, 2016
And seconded by Breitbart’s John Nolte:
https://twitter.com/NolteNC/status/707897152471695360
There’s still no official word from the Trump campaign on what happened, but there is a debate tonight on CNN and we think this just might come up.
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