In an interview on Fox News Sunday, Chris Wallace confronted Donald Trump about how the Republican frontrunner handled the accusations surrounding his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who has been charged with battery against reporter Michelle Fields.
Wallace starts out skeptically, pressing Trump on why Lewandowski denied he ever touched Fields instead of simply apologizing. (Video of the incident later emerged showing Lewandowski grabbing Fields.)
Then things go downhill.
Trump then claims that Fields’ initial statement was a lie and that she changed her story radically after the video was released.
“I agree with you,” Wallace tells Trump.
Trump wasn’t satisfied: “Do you agree that she lied?”
“I think she completely misrepresented it early on, I do,” Wallace replies.
Politifact investigated the charge that Fields changed her story after the tape emerged, which has been pushed repeatedly by Trump, and rated the charge “Pants On Fire.”
Politifact found that Fields has never wavered from the statement she made on Brietbart News on March 10:
Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.
The Washington Post’s Ben Terris immediately remarked that it was Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, who aggressively tried to pull me to the ground.
Politifact reported that Fields’ account is also consistent with the account Terris published in the Washington Post.
The police report said that Fields’ account of the incident is consistent with the video and the evidence was grounds for charging Lewandowski with battery.
That Trump was able to cajole Wallace into publicly supporting, despite the facts, is a vivid demonstration of Trump’s mastery over many parts of the media. Trump has effectively used the media to bolster his campaign, which lacks much of the traditional infrastructure of winning organizations.