Last week, the evidence indicates, Donald Trump camapaign manager Corey Lewandowski grabbed and pulled reporter Michelle Fields of the right-wing Breitbart news site after a Trump press conference in Florida. Fields says Lewandowski left bruises on her arm and has filed assault charges against him. Somewhat remarkably, it appears that the Breitbart apparatus is siding with Trump against its own reporter: In recent days several staffers including Fields herself have resigned after the site published a since-disavowed post suggesting Lewandowski had been mistakenly identified and the site’s chairman allegedly disparaged Fields in a company phone call. From Politico:
Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro have both resigned from the company, the two announced on Sunday evening. And more are expected in the coming days.
“Nobody wants to stand with [Breitbart Chairman Stephen] Bannon,” said one source at the company on Sunday evening. “Besides the senior management and his loyal reporters that provide pro-Trump stenography.”
Breitbart spokesman Kurt Bardella has ended his affiliation with the outlet as well.
Monday morning, Breitbart posted and then deleted a piece mocking Shapiro’s resignation; bizarrely, the piece was posted under a pseudonym that Shapiro’s own father has used to write for the site. And another writer who’d been suspended for questioning Fields’ account of the Lewandowski incident has been reinstated.
In conclusion, this is all very dumb.
