Trump defends campaign manager's alleged assault because reporter's pen could be a 'little bomb'

Donald Trump has defended his campaign manager's actions after he was charged for allegedly assaulting a reporter, saying her pen could have been "a little bomb".

During a town hall meeting broadcast on CNN, Trump stood by Corey Lewandowski who is accused of grabbing reporter Michelle Fields so hard that it left bruises on her arm at a Trump news conference at a golf club Trump owns in Jupiter, Florida.

Trump initially denied the incident took place until video appearing to show Lewandowski grab Fields was released by police.

He said the video exonerated his campaign chief because Fields was "off base" approaching him as he was leaving the event as she could have posed a threat.

Video released appears to show Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski approach the reporter and reach out to her. Source: Jupiter Police

When asked by anchor Anderson Cooper why the allegations were denied, Trump said: “Touch, I don’t know what touch means.“

He then suggested Fields could have been dangerous and gently toyed with the idea of possibly pressing charges against the journalist.

“She had a pen in her hand, which Secret Service is not liking because they don’t know what it is,” he said. “It could be a little bomb.”

“She had a pen in her hand,” he said. “It could’ve been a knife. It could’ve been just a pen, which is very dangerous.”

Trump also tried to accuse of Fields of changing her statement, but Cooper proved this to be untrue despite Trump trying to use a copy of Fields' statement to back himself.

Lewandowski and Trump had denied the incident took place and the campaign quickly disputed the fact that Lewandowski was even arrested.

• Ex-Trump Insider: Donald Doesn’t Want to Be President

• Clinton pushes Supreme Court nomination

• Sanders gains momentum with primary wins

The billionaire Trump, whose rallies have been hit by a string of protests and outbreaks of sporadic violence, took to social media to back his top staffer following Tuesday's announcement, prompting Fields to fire back.

"Mr. Lewandowski was issued a Notice to Appear and given a court date. He was not arrested," said a Trump campaign statement.

"Mr. Lewandowski is absolutely innocent of this charge. He will enter a plea of not guilty and looks forward to his day in court. He is completely confident that he will be exonerated."

According to a police report seen by AFP, Fields - who has since resigned from the conservative site Breitbart News - showed "bruising from what appeared to be several finger marks indicating a grabbing type injury."

Police said their investigation found "probable cause" to charge Lewandowski with misdemeanor simple battery "in that he did intentionally touch Michelle Fields... against the will of Michelle Fields."

Fields says the alleged incident took place as the news conference was wrapping up and she followed Trump - who was moving to the back of the room - to ask him a question.

At that point, she says, Lewandowski grabbed her forearm in a scene witnessed by a Washington Post journalist.

The arrest is said to be an illustration of the growing tensions surrounding the Republican frontrunner's White House bid, according to opponents.

'Just stop lying'

Trump, a reality television star who is in pole position for the Republican nomination, used Twitter to hit out at Fields over the charge.

"Wow, Corey Lewandowski, my campaign manager and a very decent man, was just charged with assaulting a reporter. Look at tapes - nothing there!" Trump tweeted.

"Why aren't people looking at this reporter's earliest statement as to what happened, that is before she found out the episode was on tape?"

But Fields refused to back down, tweeting back: "Because my story never changed. Seriously, just stop lying."

Lewandowski also had his say on Twitter, telling Fields on March 11: "You are totally delusional. I never touched you."

"As a matter of fact, I have never even met you," he added.

Partial videos and audio of the alleged incident made it difficult to say with certainty what had happened, but video footage released by police on Tuesday appeared to support the reporter's account of events.

In a separate, later incident caught on tape this month at a campaign event in Tucson, Arizona, Lewandowski appeared to grab one man by the scruff of the neck, with a member of Trump's security detail also involved in the fracas.

"I give him credit for having spirit. He wanted them to take down those horrible profanity-laced signs," Trump said of Lewandowski at the time, adding that he never touched the man.

Volatile mix

Trump and the media have made for a volatile mix on the campaign trail, with the brash billionaire not shying away from trash-talking reporters to their faces and getting his staff and the masses to follow suit.

Fox New recently accused him of harbouring a "sick obsession" with prominent news anchor Megyn Kelly and waging a campaign of crude verbal abuse against her.

And, in a move that drew sexism allegations, he has also taken shots at the wife of competitor Ted Cruz, who called Tuesday's development "very sad."

"This is the consequence of the culture of the Trump campaign," Cruz told reporters.

"The abusive culture. When you have a campaign that is built on personal insults and attacks and now physical violence."

Trump - whose run for the White House has from the start attracted boisterous crowds and counter demonstrators - has been criticised by both his Republican rivals and Democrats for not reining in his supporters at his boisterous rallies.

A Chicago Trump rally was cancelled after demonstrators scuffled with his supporters and police struggled to maintain order, with hundreds of protesters showing up.