OPINION:
OPINION/ANALYSIS
I don’t see it. Are my eyes deceiving me? Am I delusional?
Or is — in fact — the new video supposedly proving that Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski is guilty of “misdemeanor battery,” inconclusive?
That’s not what the mainstream media, or anti-Trump forces, want you to believe. No presumption of innocence with them– the verdict is in, and it’s guilty!
“Who are you going to believe — the mastermind behind Trump University and his campaign manager or your lying eyes?” questioned conservative blogger Jennifer Rubin at the Washington Post, of the video released by the Jupiter, Florida police department of the incident Tuesday.
“Here is Corey Lewandowski caught in a gross, cynical lie,” Buzzfeed reporter Andrew Kaczynski tweeted, linking the video and then Mr. Lewandowski’s tweet earlier this month, saying he never touched reporter Michelle Fields.
Matt Viser, national politics reporter for the Boston Globe, wrote on Twitter: “Ironic that this security footage – disproving account of Trump and his campaign manager – comes from cameras at Trump National Golf Club.”
And Besty Woodruff, of the Daily Beast commented: “Trump supporters have no problem believing Ted Cruz has 34895 mistresses, but still hold firm that Corey never touched @MichelleFields.”
Per the video footage, there’s little doubt Mr. Lewandowski at least briefly touched Ms. Fields.
But to me, it looks like a crowded press gaggle, where Mr. Lewandowski was trying to give his candidate room, and pushed aside a reporter asking a question. These type of situations are so common on the campaign trail, I’m not surprised Mr. Lewandowski has no recollection of it.
Ms. Fields didn’t fall, no other reporters came to her aid, and the traffic in the room didn’t stop.
What Donald Trump’s campaign is guilty of, however, is bringing the national political discourse into the gutter – whether it’s his retweets of Texas Sen. Ted Cruz’s wife, the blood coming out of Megyn Kelly’s wherever, or making fun of Carly Fiorina’s looks.
You see, he’s created an anti-woman narrative here, which the press and anti-Trump forces want to ingrain – no matter what the so-called evidence is at hand regarding Mr. Lewandowski and Ms. Fields’ exchange.
Still, battery is a serious charge that could ruin a career. By most accounts, Mr. Lewandowski is no saint, but that doesn’t make him guilty of a crime either.
The truth is a lot messier than some would like to believe.
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