The woman who confronted GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump on women’s rights Monday is a volunteer for rival Jeb Bush’s campaign.
“Maybe you can prove me wrong, but I don’t think you’re a friend to women,” Lauren Batchelder told Mr. Trump at the “No Labels Problem Solver Convention” in New Hampshire Monday.
Mr. Trump said he “cherishes” women and granted them equal opportunities and pay in his workforce. The testy exchange — which involved Ms. Batchelder asking, “If you become president, will a woman make the same as a man, and do I get to choose what I do with my body?” — quickly went viral.
On Ms. Batchelder’s LinkedIn account, she identifies herself as a campaign intern for Jeb Bush for President 2016 and listed one of her “groups” as the Bush campaign.
Her Twitter account included numerous pro-Bush and anti-Trump tweets, including one during the Sept. 16 presidential debate saying “I love you Jeb. I’m sorry you have to be next to trump.” And her Facebook page showed pictures of her at a Bush rally wearing a “Jeb!” campaign T-shirt.
Mr. Bush, the former governor of Florida, is trailing Mr. Trump in the polls.
Ms. Batchelder’s connection to Mr. Bush was first revealed by the Conservative Treehouse blog.
Mr. Trump quickly took to Twitter to voice his discontent, identifying Ms. Batchelder as a Bush “plant.”
“How can Jeb Bush expect to deal with China, Russia + Iran if he gets caught doing a ’plant’ during my speech yesterday in NH?” Mr. Trump tweeted on Tuesday.
The Bush campaign said Ms. Batchelder was a “volunteer supporter” for their campaign but wasn’t a plant — she challenged Trump on her own.
“Like many in New Hampshire, Lauren is a student at St. Anselm’s who is passionate about and active in politics and attended this event on her own accord,” Allie Brandenburger, a spokeswoman for Mr. Bush, told CNN. “While this question was not sanctioned by the campaign, we can’t help but notice Mr. Trump does seem to be very sensitive about being challenged by women.”
• Kelly Riddell can be reached at kriddell@washingtontimes.com.
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