Trump Still Insists His Campaign Manager Is Innocent of Assaulting Reporter

Gerald Herbert/AP

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Donald Trump is defending his campaign manager to the very end, despite mounting evidence against him.

On Tuesday morning, Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with misdemeanor battery for forcibly grabbing reporter Michelle Fields at an event in Jupiter, Florida, on March 8. A video released Tuesday clearly shows Lewandowski grabbing Fields. But on Tuesday afternoon, Trump took to Twitter to defend the man running his campaign for president—and claim the new footage proves nothing.

This is not the first time the Trump team has denied the incident—indeed, there is a long list of denials and smears targeted at Fields. Lewandowski intends to plead not guilty.

Update 3:15 p.m. ET: Trump suggested later on Tuesday that Fields should be the one facing charges for grabbing him and “shout[ing] questions.”

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“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

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