Corey Lewandowski absolutely should have faced the ax as Donald Trump's campaign manager — even though prosecutors announced Thursday they won't pursue a battery charge against him for roughhousing a female reporter, former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay says.
In an interview with
Newsmax TV's Steve Malzberg on Thursday, DeLay said Lewandowski's denial that he laid a hand on Michelle Fields at a Trump campaign rally, and the emergence of a videotape showing he in fact did grab the Breitbart reporter, is in itself grounds for dismissal.
"He did something and lied about it and didn't apologize for it. I don't know about firing but he should've been reprimanded or something," DeLay said.
But, DeLay added, "this was an aggressive reporter and probably he was justified in pulling her off Trump."
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DeLay, a Washington Times radio host, also said Trump's second and third place rivals in the race for the GOP presidential nomination, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, need not apologize for their earlier calls for Lewandowski's dismissal, even though he's been cleared.
"Lewandowski pulled on this reporter — that was obvious. He was guilty of it, he lied about it and that will proven, probably in a civil suit," said DeLay, noting that Trump went out of his way to defend the campaign staffer.
"If they had just apologized to her for treating her roughly and moved on. But they got to make a big deal about it," DeLay said.
"Evidently Trump and Lewandowski can't apologize for anything. They never do anything wrong. It's always somebody else's fault … I think Cruz and Kasich ought to just move on and completely ignore this."
Prosecutors in Palm Beach County, who were investigating the alleged assault, said in a statement:
"The evidence cannot prove all required elements of the crime alleged and is insufficient to support a criminal prosecution."
At a press conference, State Attorney Dave Aronberg explained he chose not to move ahead because the burden for his office to proceed with a case was higher than that of the police who originally charged Lewandowski,
The New York Times reported.
Last month, Lewandowski was slapped with a simple battery charge after Fields accused him of grabbing her arm and yanking her away as she attempted to grill Trump at a campaign event in Jupiter, Florida.
Fields later posted a photo of her lower arm which featured a noticeable bruise. Lewandowski insisted he had never touched Fields and his claim was backed up by Trump. The billionaire developer added that he considered filing charges against Fields because she touched his arm.
But a video of the incident showed that Lewandowski had, in fact, made contact with Fields and appeared to be yanking her away from Trump.
The video sparked a firestorm of criticism against Lewandowski and there were calls for his resignation. Trump has continued to stand behind him, but appears to have lessened his prominence in the campaign with the hiring of veteran political consultant Paul Manafort.
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