Updated 10pm
DONALD TRUMP HAS said that he will stand by his campaign manager despite him being charged with battery.
According to his charge sheet – shown here on the Washington Post – Corey Lewandowski has been charged with intentionally grabbing and bruising the arm of reporter Michelle Fields.
Trump says he doesn’t “discard people” and called the situation “very unfair” to Lewandowski, one of his closest advisers.
He says he hopes the matter doesn’t change Lewandowski’s role on his campaign
In a statement earlier this month Jupiter Police Department in Florida confirmed that it was looking into the alleged incident of battery at an event at Trump National on 8 March.
In a earlier statement this afternoon, Trump’s camp has said that his campaign manager is completely innocent of the charges against him.
“He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court,” said the statement.
He is completely confident that he will be exonerated.
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Reversing a previous position that the incident never happened, Trump tweeted a number of statements saying that he was being touched by the reporter in question.
He even questioned whether he should press charges against her.
In a statement prior to today’s arrest a spokesperson for the Trump camp alleged that the incident was “entirely false” and that Fields had not addressed it directly with them.
His statement today says that Lewandowski is “absolutely innocent” of the charge and “looks forward to his day in court”.
The New York businessman’s rivals seized on the news, which comes a week before a Wisconsin primary contest that could give Trump an insurmountable delegate lead or give his opponents new hope of a contested national convention.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz said the incident is:
the consequence of the culture of the Trump campaign — the abusive culture when you have a campaign that is built on personal insults, on attacks and now physical violence.
- With reporting by Rónán Duffy and Associated Press
- Comments have been closed as legal action is ongoing.
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