Breitbart reporter, Trump campaign escalate clash over alleged assault

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Trump campaign manager accused of assaulting reporter

Breitbart News editor-at-large weighs in on 'The Kelly File' after new audio of the incident is released

The controversy surrounding an alleged assault on a Breitbart reporter by Donald Trump’s campaign manager escalated Friday as neither side backed down over the incident, with the Trump campaign accusing the reporter of changing her story about what happened.

Reporter Michelle Fields claims she was grabbed by the arm at a Trump campaign event Wednesday night and pulled down. She later posted a picture of her bruised arm, marks she says she received during the incident, and filed a police report.

In a piece for Breitbart about the alleged attack, Fields says the Washington Post’s Ben Terris, who was nearby, told her it was Trump’s campaign manager – Corey Lewandowski – who grabbed her, since she did not see the assailant herself.

Multiple videos of the event surfaced online Friday, with some appearing to show Lewandowski reaching over toward Fields, but none showing conclusively whether or not he grabbed her arm as she alleges.

Lewandowski denies the incident took place, and called Fields "totally delusional" in a tweet

After the Trump campaign called the accusation “entirely false,” in a statement Thursday, Fields – who says Trump was her second choice for president -- told Fox News’ Megyn Kelly Friday that the billionaire Republican frontrunner is throwing her under the bus by not addressing the incident.

“And Donald Trump always talks about my people, that he loves his people, his people love him,” Fields said. “Well wouldn't I be considered his people? And what he's doing is throwing me under the bus.”

However, Trump campaign spokeswoman Katrina Pierson said the latest videos of the incident are inconclusive.

“Well even in this new video though it's still not extremely conclusive,” Pierson told Megyn Kelly. “All you see is Corey Lewandowski talking to Secret Service and he does raise his hands but there is no physical contact there.”

Pierson followed up on claims the campaign made Thursday that Fields “has become part of the news story” on multiple occasions, saying that Fields has changed her story a number of times about what she alleges happened.

“She has said several things actually, it's changed over the course of the last few hours,” Pierson said.

Fields accused the Trump campaign of character assassination.

“Yesterday they released a statement calling me a liar. They have basically done a character assassination on me,” Fields said. “They're linking to blogs with conspiracies about me, and they're not telling the truth.”