Donald Trump told reporters Tuesday that bruises Michelle Fields displayed on her arm after an encounter with his campaign manager could have existed prior to the incident.
He also suggested that Fields would’ve “yelled out a scream” had she truly been injured by his aide, Corey Lewandowski, during a run-in at Trump National Golf Club on Mar. 8.
Lewandowski was charged by Jupiter, Fla. police Tuesday with a count of simple battery stemming from the events that evening.
Here is a transcript of Trump’s remarks:
Trump: Take a look at [Fields’s] initial statement, it sounded like she got thrown out of a building. You take a look at that, and then — Off-camera: She did get bruises on her arm. Trump: Excuse me? Off-camera: She did get bruises on her arm. Trump: I don’t know if they were bruises from that. Why? Who said they were bruises from that? How do you know those bruises weren’t there before? Off-camera: That’s what the police said. Trump: I don’t know what the police said! How do you know those bruises weren’t there before? I’m not a lawyer. But, she said she had a bruise on her arm. I mean, to me, if you’re gonna get squeezed, wouldn’t you think that she would’ve yelled out a scream or something if she has bruises on her arm? Take a look at her facial expression. Her facial expression doesn’t even change. You say bruises on her arm. How did they get there? Who put them there? I don’t know that he put them there. In any event, I’m sticking up for a person, because I’m not going to let a person’s life be destroyed over somebody that we have on tape. And you just take a look at what people are saying when they see that incident on tape. And no jury, in my opinion, no jury would convict a man and destroy a man’s life over what you witnessed.
