Video from Tuesday eveningâs Florida rally definitively shows Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbing Breitbart reporter Michelle Fieldsâs arm as she attempted to ask the candidate a question following his speech.
Despite the Trump campâs outright denial that any such altercation occurred, viewers can see at the 10-second mark that Lewandowski reached with his left arm for Fieldsâs left arm, briefly grabbing her. Lewandowskiâs grasp then broke before he reached again, this time on her left arm, which is where Fields showed she was bruised the day after.
Hours after the incident, Lewandowski told Breitbartâs Washington, D.C. editor, Matthew Boyle that he manhandled Fields, a source told The Daily Beast.
Despite this, Breitbart News responded with a vague statement that did not entirely back up its reporterâs accusation.
âItâs obviously unacceptable that someone crossed a line and made physical contact with our reporter,â said the statement, issued under the name of Larry Solov, Breitbartâs CEO and president. âWhat Michelle has told us directly is that someone âgrabbed her armâ and while she did not see who it was, Ben Terris of The Washington Post told her that it was Corey Lewandowski. If thatâs the case, Corey owes Michelle an immediate apology.â
Lewandowski did the opposite, however; on Thursday, he tweeted directly at Fields.
The Trump campaign echoed Lewandowskiâs total denial after he continued to assert she was a serial fabricator.
âThe accusation...is entirely false,â spokesperson Hope Hicks said. âThe individual has never met Corey, nor had the only reporter that supposedly identified him.â
Breitbart helped support the Trump campaignâs assertion with its own story on Friday, claiming Terris misidentified a security guard as Lewandowski, using video taken from a local Florida television station.
After Fields filed a complaint with police against Lewandowski, the Jupiter, Florida, police department said Friday it is âinvestigating an alleged battery that occurred at 115 Eagle Tree Terrace (Trump National) on March 8, 2016.â