White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest said Wednesday that neither President Barack Obama nor former President George W. Bush would “tolerate” the behavior of Donald Trump’s campaign manager.
“I am confident that neither President Obama nor President Bush would tolerate someone on their staff being accused of physically assaulting a reporter, lying about it, and then blaming the victim,” Earnest said at his daily media briefing. “That is completely unacceptable behavior.”
Police in Jupiter, Florida charged Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, with a misdemeanor battery charge on Tuesday. The charge came after former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields filed a complaint against Lewandowski alleging that he forcibly grabbed her arm after a press conference earlier this month.
Both Trump and Lewandowski have insisted that the campaign manager is innocent, and a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign said that Lewandowski wouldn’t be fired even if he were convicted of the charge.
“I’m also confident in telling you that nobody’s particularly surprised that that’s behavior that Mr. Trump doesn’t just seem to tolerate, he seems to encourage,” Earnest added.
Watch Earnest’s comments below:
WATCH: @PressSec on charge against Trump campaign manager: “That’s not something President Obama would tolerate.” https://t.co/GNAUUiJSty
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) March 30, 2016
