National Journal columnist Ron Fournier on Wednesday claimed that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is using “thugs” to manhandle reporters.
On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe,” Fournier said the front-runner for the GOP nomination has proven to be “very disingenuous” and “vacuous on policy.”
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“If in the news conference yesterday just about everything he said was deceptive or not truthful, what does it tell us about what kind of president he’ll be?” Fournier said. “When he’s got thugs kicking reporters and knocking reporters down, what does it say about what kind of leader he’ll be?”
There have been no reports of anyone affiliated with Trump or his campaign having assaulted members of the media, though one story published at Breitbart.com on Tuesday alleged that Trump’s campaign manager may have grabbed the arm of a female reporter in order to move her out of the path of the candidate, who was exiting a press conference.
Fournier did not return a request for comment from the Washington Examiner but he was presumably referring to an incident last week wherein a Secret Service agent, who is employed by the federal government, was seen on video in a confrontation with a photographer at one of Trump’s notoriously raucous campaign rallies.
In different videos, the photographer is seen yelling an expletive at an agent, who then retaliated by body slamming him to the ground.
The Secret Service and the inspector general for the Department of Homeland Security are both reportedly investigating the incident.
