Breitbart Reporter in Trump Brouhaha Quits

Michelle Fields, Breitbart editor quit for site not standing by her amid assault claims
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 14, 2016 7:37 AM CDT

The continuing saga of the alleged assault of Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields by Donald Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski took a new turn with the resignation of Fields and a Breitbart editor Sunday night, BuzzFeed reports. "Today I informed the management at Breitbart News of my immediate resignation," Fields said in a statement. "I do not believe Breitbart News has adequately stood by me during the events of the past week and because of that I believe it is now best for us to part ways." She repeated that sentiment in a tweet Monday. Ben Shapiro, Breitbart's editor-at-large, also quit, tweeting that he was doing so in support of Fields and adding in his own statement that the site's handling of the incident has "betrayed" late founder Andrew Breitbart. Fields alleges Lewandowski grabbed her arm and yanked her from asking Trump a question at a Florida presser, per the Washington Post.

Lewandowski and Trump have both denied it, and Breitbart's response has included a brief statement saying it did stand behind Fields, followed by a supposed order from a top-level editor to Breitbart staffers not to publicly defend Fields. "[Breitbart News chairman] Steve Bannon is a bully, and has sold out Andrew's mission in order to back another bully, Donald Trump," Shapiro said. "He has shaped the company into Trump's personal Pravda, to the extent that he abandoned and undercut his own reporter." Breitbart, meanwhile, has its own take. "Ben Shapiro Betrays Loyal Breitbart Readers in Pursuit of Fox News Contributorship" reads a headline posted Monday, with an accompanying story that accused BuzzFeed of "aiming to destroy Breitbart News since the moment Andrew Breitbart died." (Read both resignation statements in full.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X