--- title: Trump Campaign Denies Using Force With Breitbart Reporter description: Donald Trump's campaign denied accusations on Thursday that the candidate's campaign manager had forcibly grabbed a reporter on Tuesday canonical: https://time.com/4254550/trump-breitbart-reporter/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-03-10T21:56:52.000Z article:modified_time: 2023-12-15T04:41:10.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Campaign Denies Using Force With Breitbart Reporter og:description: Breitbart News defended the reporter against attacks on her credibility og:url: https://time.com/4254550/trump-breitbart-reporter/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt373ac70f31cc5362/69888a922dce0128b79e825e/donald-trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Donald J. Trump Press Conference og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Campaign Denies Using Force With Breitbart Reporter twitter:description: Breitbart News defended the reporter against attacks on her credibility twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt373ac70f31cc5362/69888a922dce0128b79e825e/donald-trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Campaign Denies Using Force With Breitbart Reporter ## Video: Watch When Donald Trump Rallies Get Violent [Watch (HLS stream): Watch When Donald Trump Rallies Get Violent](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/4a2eqSrA.m3u8) (2:34)  _Published 2016-03-10_  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:41 AM UTCPublished: Mar 10, 2016 9:56 PM UTC  Donald Trump holds a press conference at Trump National Golf Club Jupiter on March 8 in Jupiter, Fla. Donald Trump holds a press conference at Trump National Golf Club Jupiter on March 8 in Jupiter, Fla.Mychal Watts—WireImage/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Updated: Dec 15, 2023 4:41 AM UTCPublished: Mar 10, 2016 9:56 PM UTC Donald Trump’s campaign denied accusations on Thursday that his campaign manager had forcibly grabbed Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields after a press conference on Tuesday. Fields [said she was yanked out of the way](http://www.breitbart.com/big-journalism/2016/03/10/3276486/) by campaign manager Corey Lewandowski when she asked Trump a question about affirmative action as the candidate was making his way around the room and taking questions from reporters after the televised press conference. In a statement issued Thursday, Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied the account. “The accusation, which has only been made in the media and never addressed directly with the campaign, is entirely false. As one of dozens of individuals present as Mr. Trump exited the press conference I did not witness any encounter,” Hicks said. “In addition to our staff, which had no knowledge of said situation, not a single camera or reporter of more than 100 in attendance captured the alleged incident.” Washington _Post_ reporter Ben Terris [said he witnessed it.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/inside-trumps-inner-circle-his-staffers-are-willing-to-fight-for-him-literally/2016/03/10/4b2b18e8-e660-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e%5Fstory.html) “I watched as a man with short-cropped hair and a suit grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way. He was Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 41-year-old campaign manager,” Terris wrote. “Fields stumbled. Finger-shaped bruises formed on her arm.” Politico also [published a transcript](http://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2016/03/transcript-corey-lewandowski-breitbart-reporter-attack-220589) obtained from an audio recording that appears to support Fields’ account. Lewandowski called Fields an “attention seeker” and questioned her credibility by [referencing previous incidents](https://twitter.com/CLewandowski%5F/status/708013500564684800) when she said she was assaulted while reporting. As a reporter for the Daily Caller, Fields [said she was struck by New York police officers](http://dailycaller.com/2011/11/17/daily-caller-reporter-videographer-assaulted-by-nypd-during-occupy-protests/) while covering Occupy Wall Street in 2011. “Michelle Fields is an attention seeker who once claimed Allen West groped her but later went silent,” he [said on Twitter](https://twitter.com/CLewandowski%5F/status/708020305013448704) on Thursday afternoon. He linked to an anonymously sourced report that said Fields had been harassed by colleague and former congressman Allen West. The report said Fields refused to comment about the claims on the record. Lewandowski also [linked to an opinion piece](https://twitter.com/CLewandowski%5F/status/708040874752655365) that compared Fields’ account to a “fake rape style incident.” Breitbart News CEO and President Larry Solov defended Fields against the accusations. “We are disappointed in the campaign’s response, in particular their effort to demean Michelle’s previous reporting,” Solov said in a statement on Thursday. “Michelle Fields is an intrepid reporter who has covered tough and dangerous stories. We stand behind her reporting, her techniques, and call again on Corey Lewandowski to apologize.” Fields, meanwhile, responded with a picture showing bruises on her arm. “I guess these just magically appeared on me,” she said. “So weird.” > [](https://twitter.com/MichelleFields/status/708005032839548929) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4254550/trump-breitbart-reporter/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4254550/trump-breitbart-reporter/"},"headline":"Trump Campaign Denies Using Force With Breitbart Reporter","datePublished":"2016-03-10T21:56:52.000Z","dateModified":"2023-12-15T04:41:10.000Z","description":"Breitbart News defended the reporter against attacks on her credibility","url":"https://time.com/4254550/trump-breitbart-reporter/","keywords":["Donald Trump"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt373ac70f31cc5362/69888a922dce0128b79e825e/donald-trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt373ac70f31cc5362/69888a922dce0128b79e825e/donald-trump10.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Donald J. 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