Donald Trump spars with 'Today' hosts in fiery interview over campaign manager's battery charge
Hosts Savannah Guthrie and Matt Lauer repeatedly tried to get Trump to admit that his top aide, Corey Lewandowski, wasn't telling the truth when he said he didn't touch a reporter earlier this month.
The Jupiter, Florida, police released video of the incident on Tuesday, when Lewandowski was charged. The video appeared to show him grabbing reporter Michelle Fields as she questioned Trump at a campaign event.
The Trump camp has since shifted its story to argue that Lewandowski had good reason to pull Fields away from the candidate. Trump simply repeated this argument again and again during his Wednesday "Today" interview.
In her first question to the Republican presidential frontrunner, Guthrie said:
You have a Corey Lewandowski tweet right after this incident happened saying very directly: "I never touched her." Then you have a piece of video which shows rather clearly he did touch her. Will you acknowledge very directly that Corey Lewandowski did not tell the truth initially about this incident?
Trump pivoted again and again to accuse Fields of grabbing him first as Guthrie repeatedly tried to get him to answer the original question. He also claimed that Fields had a shifting statement about the incident.
"Isn't it your story that's changed?" Guthrie asked.
Trump wouldn't budge. Lauer soon repeatedly tried to ask the same question during the heated interview, but Trump continued to place the blame on Fields, who earlier this month tweeted out a photo of the bruises she said she received from the March 8 incident.
"He tweeted that he never touched her," Lauer told Trump. "The video tape easily and plainly shows that in fact he did grab her and he did pull her. ... He didn't tell the truth."
The Trump campaign and Lewandowski's lawyers have maintained he is innocent of the charge.