Republican businessman Donald Trump’s campaign is proving to be an infected zit on the face of an already blemished American political system. The headlines are dominated by his name calling, feuds, foul-mouth, demonizing and divisive rhetoric clearly aimed to push the emotional buttons of many voters disgusted over being played by professional politicians. Forget givens, norms, or even consequences. And now we have the latest: his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was charged with battery due to an incident in which he allegedly grabbed a reporter, Michelle Fields, at a campaign event earlier this month. Fields was with Breitbart until she quit after Trumpbart Brietbart as a site did not back her up enthusastically, and the incident prompted some resignations of some of its top talent from the conservative website.
But it doesn’t end there. Now Trump’s campaign continues to defend Lewandowski, with one bigwig saying he’ll remain as campaign manager even as convicted — and Trump suggests he could press charges against Fields.
Questions: 1)have we ever seen a campaign that has been so beneath the dignity of American politics, which wasn’t exactly a shining example of dignity anyway? 2)have we ever seen a campaign get so bogged down in pettyness to the extent it drowns out or obscure the truly vital issues and challenges facing the United States?
The charges:
Nearly a month of jousting on social media culminated Tuesday in the arrest of a top Donald Trump presidential campaign aide on misdemeanor battery charges following a March 8 incident involving a reporter.
Michelle Fields, then with the online Breitbart News Service, alleges that Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski forcefully grabbed her at a news conference at Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter.
Lewandowski — who has denied wrongdoing and who the Trump campaign said will plead not guilty — turned himself in to town police just before 8 a.m. Tuesday, in what Jupiter Police Chief Frank Kitzerow described as “a very straightforward procedure.”
Lewandowski was issued a notice to appear on a misdemeanor battery charge. The New York City resident is expected in Palm Beach County Circuit Court May 4.
Fields filed a report with police within a week of the incident. On Tuesday, town police released surveillance footage of the alleged battery they said corroborated Fields’ claims, prompting them to file the battery charges.
Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was arrested and charged in Jupiter, Florida, with simple battery of former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, according to police.
The Jupiter Police Department told CNN that Lewandowski was arrested Tuesday morning after turning himself in on the misdemeanor charge of simple battery.
They said Lewandowski has been released and his initial court appearance is scheduled for May 4. The department also released new video that shows the alleged incident from an overhead angle.
Campaign spokeswoman Hope Hicks and one of Lewandowski’s lawyers, Scott Richardson, both released a statement Tuesday saying Lewandowski is “absolutely innocent of this charge,” and will plead not guilty.
“He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated,” the statement said.
The arrest of Lewandowski, known for his brash style and for being fiercely loyal to Trump, immediately raised fresh questions about his future with the Trump campaign. Trump currently has a sizable lead in the delegate race and is hoping to clinch the party’s nomination outright. With a “Never Trump” campaign effort aimed at stopping the GOP front-runner from gaining steam, the latest development will only fuel Trump’s critics and serve as another distraction for the New York billionaire, who has moved from one controversy after another to this election cycle.
In a gaggle on his private plane Tuesday afternoon, Trump told reporters that Lewandowski was a “fine person,” and suggested he would not part ways with his campaign manager.
“I don’t discard people,” Trump said.
The campaign says he’ll stay even if convicted:
Katrina Pierson, Donald Trump’s national spokeswoman, said Tuesday that embattled top aide Corey Lewandowski would stay with the campaign even if he’s convicted of a criminal battery charge in Florida.
When CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked if Lewandowski would stay with the campaign even if he was convicted of a misdemeanor for allegedly roughing up a reporter, Pierson replied “yes” without hesitation.
“Yes, absolutely. Mr. Lewandowski is an integral part of the team, the camp wholeheartedly supports him and will see him through the ordeal,” she said.
Pierson also vowed that Lewandowski would “beat this” in court.
“Corey Lewandowski is going to beat this,” Pierson said. “He will plead not guilty and we will have to let the process play out.”
And Trump?
He has been busy defending his campaign manager — and threatening to press his own charges.
Americans are perhaps seeing a foreshadow of how a Trump administration is likely to respond to a scandal.
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump on Tuesday threatened to press charges against former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields, claiming she grabbed him after a press conference.
“Victory press conference was over. Why is she allowed to grab me and shout questions? Can I press charges?” Trump tweeted Tuesday with a photo.
By the campaign he’s running, if Trump is elected and Americans are unhappy or worried, no one can say that in watching his run for the nomination American voters never saw it coming.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.