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Why Trump Loves Lewandowski
Donald Trump with campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.
In a year of floors falling away under one’s feet (such as the assumption that nearly all Americans demand a minimal level of civility in public life), the Corey Lewandowski story represents one more gob smack. That Donald Trump stands by the belligerent Lewandowski tells us more of what we already knew about Trump, and also hints at the coward beneath the blowhard.
First, the battery. The campaign manager – not a volunteer, not even a hired security guard – but the honest-to-goodness campaign manager, nearly shoved reporter Michelle Fields to the ground and inflicted bruises on her arm. When she protested, there was no apology. Instead, the campaign at first suggested that there was a mistake: Lewandowski mistook Fields (who worked at the time for the pro-Trump Breitbart.com) for a member of the mainstream media. Oh, so that makes shoving okay? But the campaign quickly reverted to outright lies. Hope Hicks, a Trump campaign spokesman, said that Fields’ account was “entirely false…. I did not witness any encounter … not a single camera or reporter of more than 100 in attendance captured the alleged incident.” Trump himself offered that “maybe she made it up.”
Except there was an eyewitness, Ben Terris, of the Washington Post, who confirmed Fields’ account that very day. And the following day there was an audio recording of the Terris/Field conversation immediately after the incident, which further confirmed her account. And then there were videos, one of which was enough to convince the police to bring battery charges.
Never mind. In the morality-free Trump zone, facts are optional. “You are totally delusional,” Lewandowski said of Fields. “I never touched you. As a matter of fact, I have never even met you.” Trumpkins disdain eyewitnesses, audio recordings, and videotape. You have your truth, as our friends on the left would say, and I have mine. Not even Bill Clinton was so brazen.
So the battery is an established fact shamelessly denied. And then there is the character assassination. Trump has suggested that Fields was an attention seeker, and sneered that she’s “not a baby, okay?” This is classic Trump – attacking those he has already wronged. Asked in an early debate about the people left holding the bag after his four bankruptcies, he dismissed them, saying they were “big boys and girls.” Actually, many were electricians, carpenters, and other working people who couldn’t afford his fancy lawyers.
Any number of Trump-enabling commentators have advised Michelle Fields to get over it, put on her “big boy pants,” and otherwise to suck it up.
Really? What about the big boy who’s running for president? Why is he so scared? Perhaps Trump’s fondness for Lewandowski is not in spite of his henchman’s willingness to get physical but because of it.
Trump seems more than usually frightened of protesters. To be sure, every candidate gets serious threats, and doubtless Trump has received some. But his threshold for feeling vulnerable seems unusually low. Before a rally in Iowa, he was told that some protesters might throw tomatoes at him. He was sufficiently alarmed to tell the crowd: “If you see somebody getting ready to throw a tomato, knock the crap out of them.” For tomatoes. Nor has he been shy about calling down violence even on those who merely attempted to disrupt his speeches (which, I hasten to add, they have no right to do), but which in no way justifies mob violence.
On another occasion, Lewandowski waded into the crowd and grabbed a protester by the collar. Trump approved of this maneuver too, explaining (if that’s the right word) to CNN’s Anderson Cooper that the man’s sign contained very bad words. Non sequitur.
The Trump campaign has changed its story several times about Michelle Fields. The latest, on CNN Tuesday night, featured Trump justifying Lewandowki’s manhandling of Fields because she approached the TV star armed with a pen “which is very dangerous.” Tomatoes, Bics, is there no end to the threats against Trump?
Donald Trump avoided the draft by claiming bone spurs in his heels – which somehow didn’t keep him off the ski slopes. Yet he had the gall to disparage the heroism of John McCain. His only real exposure to danger, his “personal Vietnam” he says, was sleeping around and risking STDs in the 1970s.
Trump is a physically large man with the courage of a mouse. Like many cowards, he loves tough talk, but he prefers to issue threats from the comfort of his private jet and to let bullyboys like Lewandowski actually get their hands dirty. Purely as a matter of national hygiene, Lewandowski should be fired. But more importantly, so should his boss.
Published in General
Franco, really? You are criticizing Mona for this post? Wow. Enjoy being on team fascist my friend. You are normally solid, but why should she say “allegedly” given all of the evidence? Perhaps you are just joshing her here, but for the love of all things sacred, don’t appear to be defending Trump. Your principles aren’t worth that sacrifice.
So you routinely grab strangers by the arm and pull them away from other people?
The issue is, as it always is in politics, how Trump and Corey dealt with it. They didn’t man up and take responsibility. They lied and pointed the finger. Do you not understand that?
It is a big story because Trump is a coward and won’t apologize or reprimand Corey. Do you do this to people, grab them by the arm? I doubt it very seriously. But, if Trump’s folks did it, it must be right. Good grief. That crazy liberal anti-Trump Breitbart just making stuff up again Franco. I mean, if she just hadn’t been trying to ask Donald a question, nothing would have ever happened!
Minor correction — you mean Watergate, not White Water.
It was nothing until Corey and Trump lied about it. Cowards. Afraid to ever, ever admit they are wrong about anything, even though they are wrong about everything. If you repeat a lie enough times, maybe some people will just believe it is true. Franco, why in the world are you sticking your neck out for these people? You are a smart, sagacious individual. Don’t dig in to defend the indefensible.
It seems odd that the question of whether a crime has been committed is determined by the willingness of the alleged criminal to man up and take responsibility.
People are acquitted every day of crimes they did, in fact, commit. Mona does not have to use the word “allegedly” when she says that Corey grabbed Fields’ arm.
Trump doesn’t have to take responsibility for a crime, he has to take responsibility for what his staff did, did not do, and whether he and his staff lied about what they knew, and what happened. To date, Trump has ignored Corey’s lies, Corey’s actions, and has instead blamed Fields. That is why this has not gone away.
Oh, this is so true! Now we have the spectacle of this minor incident supplanting any discussion of real issues. Not that there was much of that before.
Alternate reality:
I can dream, can’t I?
Mona, have you actually watched any of the videos? If you have, then I’d really like to know where you see that Lewandowski “nearly shoved reporter Michelle Fields to the ground.”
Regarding eyewitness confirmation, if you’re referring to the audio where Terris says “He really just almost threw you on the ground” then I think all of the videos contradict that. Also, all of the videos contradict Fields when she wrote in Breitbart:
Why defend Corey and Trump? What is the point?
I agree. But this should not be the basis for determining whether a crime has or has not been committed.
No one is determining whether or not a crime has been committed other than the judicial system where the incident occurred. If Mona, or anyone else, opines that based on the facts known they think a misdemeanor battery occurred, that is beside the point. Only the opinions of Corey’s attorney, the prosecutor, the judge, and a jury matter in regard to whether or not a crime happened.
The point of the post is to raise an alarm bell – hey GOP, do you want a candidate so tone-deaf that they attack the character of someone whose arm was grabbed by his own campaign manager? Or do you want someone with enough integrity to let someone go who engages in misconduct or in conduct that negatively reflects upon the campaign?
“What the **** is this ****”? will probably make up at least part of it.
He’s defending the truth, not the people. Please view the available videos and then reconsider whether or not Mr. Lewandowski “nearly shoved reporter Michelle Fields to the ground.”
Bust Mr. Trump and his underlings for what they actually did. No need to exaggerate the story to make it even better. It only undermines credibility. It’s plenty undermined already.
Clarification: Last sentence is directed at the players in this sad bit of theater, not anyone here at Ricochet.
Is that a serious question? Answer: because I don’t like seeing people falsely accused of something. Also, innocent until proven guilty. Also, I think people are ginning this into something simply to use it as a weapon against Trump. Also, this is the same kind of crap fascists pull – using the law to damage or destroy political enemies.
Ok, Corey grabbed her by the arm. She claims it left a bruise. The police investigated her claim and the prosecutor believed that there was enough evidence to prosecute Corey and obtain a conviction. In light of all this Corey claimed at first to have never touched her and to never have met her. Both claims are false. If this is so, how is Trump “defending the truth?” It seems to me that Trump is deliberately muddying the truth with baseless accusations and unfounded doubts.
Bad news. One of the attorney at Powerline notes this is a silly prosecution:
“Criminal Assault? You Can’t Be Serious!”
It may also be a conspiracy:
He sums:
You misunderstood. You were asking Ed G, not Trump. The he refers to Ed G., clearly:
The truth at issue is the claim, made by Ms. Charen, that Mr. Lewandowski “nearly shoved reporter Michelle Fields to the ground.” I thought that was clear from my comment, above.
Can we arrive at a few conclusions:
Let’s narrow the issues–who disagrees with the above and we’ll move on to other items?
But it’s a minor “truth.” It’s a straw argument designed to remove Lewandowski of culpability for what he did do.
No argument from me. My complaint was principally about the WaPo reporter’s and Ms. Fields’s exaggerations, repeated in this post by Ms. Charen. Messrs. Lewandowski and Trump have to answer for their own misdeeds. As far as I’m concerned, they’ve all been untruthful.
As a faithful listener of the Need to Know podcast, I’ve been dismayed of late at Ms. Charen’s sometimes over-the-top condemnations of Mr. Trump. It’s poor journalism; this post is but the latest incarnation of the unprofessional behavior.
No, it’s not minor. The whole incident was exaggerated. Well-behaved individuals would have behaved thus. Instead, both sides chose to lie: one making more of the incident than was merited, the other trying to pretend it didn’t happen. A pox on both their houses. Oh, and the news media who have milked it for all it was worth. Disgusting.
OK. Let’s move to the bottom line. Lewandowski inappropriately grabbed Fields, and (IMO) lied about it. The Trump campaign has elected to stand by this conduct. No matter how much exaggeration follows that (see Mona), in no way does it absolve Lewandowski for his conduct or the campaign for not acknowledging it. If there are inaccuracies to be pointed out, I’m fine with that. But eventually we end up at the same place–grabbing, lying.
Hoyacon is on the money, good night all!
#1: I can’t believe there are so many comments on this topic. Please get a life.
#2: Mona (aka NR), we get it: you hate Trump and his challenge to the status quo. Yikes! Enough already. Did Michelle Fields ignore the trigger warning inherent in free-for-all journalism? She grabbed at Trump and got stymied. [Abbreviation of vulgarity].
Battery! Holy Cow! At best it’s a misdemeanor with an extremely low threshold of actual contact. A trial? Please get a life.
I think what hoyacon is alluding to is the fact that the man was charged with battery, unless I am mistaken.
Bucky, thanks so much for you erudite disposition of this matter! Let’s just put Trump in the stocks so you can throw rotten fruit at him. Crikey.