Reporter Michelle Fields Resigns From Breitbart

Michelle Fields

Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields has resigned from the conservative news site over its response to her alleged assault by Donald Trump's campaign manager.

According to NBC News, her colleague Ben Shapiro also resigned from Breitbart, saying the site should be "ashamed" of "their treatment" of Fields, whose allegations of assault came amid escalating violence in and around Trump campaign events.

Fields accused Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski of grabbing her arm so hard she bruised as she attempted to question the candidate at an event. She wrote an account of the incident, as did a Washington Post reporter who said he witnessed it. Politico also published an audio transcript that purportedly captures the interaction and moments immediately afterward.

I can't stand with an organization that won't stand by me: https://t.co/pohxCKScpf

— Michelle Fields (@MichelleFields) March 14, 2016

The Trump campaign fought back hard against the allegations. Lewandowski called Fields "delusional" and an "attention seeker," while Trump accused the reporter of having "made up" the incident. Fields, meanwhile, filed a police report.

In the immediate aftermath, another Breitbart reporter appeared to question Fields' allegations on Twitter. That reporter was suspended — and the news site's chief executive issued a statement backing Fields and calling on Lewandowski to apologize.


However, the site then published images questioning whether the Washington Post's Ben Terris misidentified Lewandowski as the person who may have physically assaulted Fields. Breitbart later published a piece purporting to show text messages from Lewandowski which it said "prove" he didn't assault Fields.

That appeared to be the final straw for Fields, who informed management of her resignation on Sunday night.

Her colleague Shapiro went further, saying Breitbart should be "ashamed" of themselves for abandoning and undercutting Fields in order to protect a "bully" — Trump — and his "bully campaign manager."

Tonight, I resigned from Breitbart News due to their treatment of @MichelleFields. My full statement: https://t.co/kEFev1L0Af

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) March 14, 2016

"Both Lewandowski and Trump maligned Michelle in the most repulsive fashion. Meanwhile, Breitbart News not only stood by and did nothing outside of tepidly asking for an apology, they then attempted to abandon Michelle by silencing staff from tweeting or talking about the issue," Shapiro said in a statement issued to Buzzfeed.