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Piers Morgan tells journalist Michelle Fields subjected to battery to ‘toughen up’

The talk show host has implied no professional and respected female journalist would insist that being grabbed by Donald Trump's campaign manager is a crime

 

Rachael Revesz
New York
Tuesday 29 March 2016 19:54 BST
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Piers Morgan called Michelle Fields' claim of battery as 'utterly pathetic'
Piers Morgan called Michelle Fields' claim of battery as 'utterly pathetic'

Talk show host Piers Morgan continues to rile the world of social media with his latest musings on violence against women and implying that professional female journalists would not have spoken out against Donald Trump’s campaign manager as Michelle Fields has done.

On the same day that Corey Lewandowski turned himself in to the police after he was charged with battery of Michelle Fields, a former reporter of Conservative website Breitbart, at a Trump rally, Mr Morgan took to social media to denounce her.

Mr Lewandowski was accused of tightly grabbing Ms Fields’ arm as she tried to question Mr Trump. Ms Fields quit her job after Mr Lewandowski denied even meeting her, called her "delusional" and editors at Breitbart did not believe her story.

Footage of the incident has since been released and Mr Lewandowski has turned himself in to the police.

Mr Morgan, who interviewed Mr Trump last week for a UK television audience, said the claim of battery was “utterly pathetic”.

“If a male reporter tried to claim this was ‘battery’, he’d be rightly mocked. Toughen up, Michelle Fields.”

He also asked whether other high-ranking women journalists would charge Mr Lewandowski with battery for a similar action.

Mr Morgan has been accused of cosying up to Mr Trump, tweeting the “breaking news” of the birth of Mr Trump’s grandson. He has also expressed surprise at the supposed fact that “one in 10” people in New York are Muslims, supporting a similar rhetoric of the Republican.

Mr Morgan, who has often boasted of having close to 5 million followers on Twitter, has come under fire for criticising respected actress Susan Sarandon for wearing a low-cut blazer at an awards event, saying it was “tacky” and “inappropriate” yet made no similar comment on younger actresses at the event.

He also stuck up for Chris Gayle, the disgraced cricket player who was fined thousands of dollars for trying to flirt with a female reporter and, despite clear indications she was embarrassed, asking her out on live television.

Mr Morgan has wasted no time in jumping on the headline-news bandwagon and has promised his followers to write a column on the subject of Ms Fields.

Mr Lewandowski plans to plead not guilty to battery and Mr Trump has defended his employee.

Ms Fields has maintained that she has always told the same story of the incident and has not changed any details since footage of the rally has emerged.

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