Ted Cruz is blasting Donald Trump after the Republican presidential front-runner’s campaign manager was charged with battery of a reporter.
“This is the consequence of the culture of the Trump campaign, the abusive culture, when you have a campaign that is built on personal insults, on attacks and now, physical violence,” Cruz told reporters in Wisconsin.
“That has no place in a political campaign and it has no place in our democracy,” the GOP candidate added, calling the charges a “really unfortunate development.”
“I do think it helps clarify for the voters what the Trump campaign is all about.”
Campaign aides for Cruz and rival John Kasich said the charges against Corey Lewandowski are reflective of bigger issues within the businessman’s campaign.
“This is what we have come to expect from the Trump team,” Cruz spokeswoman Alice Stewart said of the charges said in a statement, according to CNN.
“Unfortunately, this abusive behavior seems to be part of the culture of the Trump campaign,” Stewart continued, blasting “personal attacks, verbal attacks, and now physical attacks.”
“Campaigns reflect the values of the candidate. I know ours does,” Kasich strategist John Weaver tweeted. “If this bully worked for John Kasich, he would have been fired long ago.”
The police department in Jupiter, Fla., said Tuesday that Lewandowski had been charged with battery in an incident March 8 involving former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields.
Trump’s campaign has denied allegations that Lewandowski grabbed Fields’s arm after a press conference at Trump National Golf Club in Florida when she attempted to ask the candidate a question.
Fields later displayed bruising on her arm in a tweet and during a television interview, and filed a police report. Police have issued Lewandowski a notice to appear in court May 4.
Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks said in a statement shared with The Hill on Tuesday that Lewandowski “is absolutely innocent of this charge,” adding he intends to plead not guilty.
Katrina Pierson, another Trump aide, said on CNN that Lewandowski would fight the charges while remaining campaign manager.