A reporter at the right-wing news site Breitbart has resigned, along with a number of her colleagues, saying the organization has become a shill for Donald Trump. Michelle Fields resigned after accusing Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, of grabbing and shoving her at a Florida rally. The incident was witnessed by a Washington Post journalist. But Breitbart published an article casting doubt on its own reporter’s claims. Speaking on Megyn Kelly’s show on Fox News Monday, Fields said her editors at Breitbart failed to support her.
Michelle Fields: “When this happened, my Washington editor, Matthew Boyle, was telling me, 'Oh, don't worry, this is going to be great, because Donald Trump is going to give us so many exclusives now because they’re going to feel like they have to do it because of what they did.’ This is how my company was looking at this. Instead of saying, 'Wow! What happened? Are you OK? Let's defend you,’ they were thinking that this was a good thing because we would get more access to Donald Trump.”
Breitbart spokesperson Kurt Bardella also resigned, saying the outlet had become a “de facto super PAC” for Trump, as did national security reporter Jordan Schachtel, editor Jarrett Stepman and editor-at-large Ben Shapiro. Shapiro told Megyn Kelly why he thinks the shakeup is an important story.
Ben Shapiro: “Well, I mean, I think the idolatrous worship of the Trump campaign by some people in the media, leading to them covering up the truth, is a major story. And as you say, I think it’s, again, a story, because the Trump campaign never acknowledges mistakes, never acknowledges their responsibility for violence, never acknowledges anything that they do wrong. It’s a no-apologies campaign. That’s why he’s popular. But that does have consequences, and it does have victims. You know, in this case, it was just a bruise on the arm. But, you know, there are other cases where it’s more than that.”