Trump Stands by His Man

Donald Trump has yet again masterfully handled an alleged scandal that conventional wisdom says should have sunk the candidate.

Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, was charged Tuesday with battery for supposedly grabbing the arm of a reporter. Trump, who has defended Lewandowski since the scandal first erupted, continues to stand by his man — a tried and tested Trump strategy that is paying off to the confusion of those in the media.

“The perspective [the media doesn’t] have is how Trump standing by his campaign manager goes down with real people who’ve been snubbed, been pushed under the bus,” noted Bob Woodward on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday morning. In defending his employee, Trump shows his supporters a loyalty they feel is lacking in Washington.

“When Trump says, ‘Look, I stick by my guy,’ that resonates” with millions of people, said Woodward. Indeed, it only reinforces his outsider image, added Woodward, who described Richard Nixon’s firing of his top aides Bob Haldeman and John Ehrlichman after the Watergate scandal as “the Washington way.”

“What Trump is saying is, ‘I’m not playing that game,’” said Woodward. Talking heads in the media may see Trump’s defense of Lewandowski as merely an arrogant, prideful Trump defending an indefensible act, but what the people see is Trump publicly going to bat for his guy,” noted Steve Kornacki on “Morning Joe.”

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Even though this may be hard for the media to understand, some of Trump’s supporters no doubt see in his loyalty to Lewandowski the kind of loyalty he’d bring to America as president. They may reason that “if he sticks up for Lewandowski, just think how he’ll stand up for America.” Indeed, Trump himself has indicated as much.

His refusal to cower before criticism also reinforces his tough-guy, take-no-prisoners image.

“I don’t want to destroy a human being’s life” for political expediency, Trump said on “Fox and Friends” Wednesday morning. It appears Trump’s supporters don’t want him to, either.

Indeed, each time Trump has said something controversial, he has doubled down on his statements, gaining further support and popularity to the befuddlement of the Establishment media.

From calling Sen. John McCain a loser, to calling Megyn Kelly a “bimbo,” to advocating a blanket ban on Muslim immigration — whatever the media said would surely kill his campaign has only made him stronger — and more popular. In each case, his poll numbers have risen.

This time, his employee did something controversial, but the strategy is exactly the same — and it may pay off yet again. “This will only tighten and strengthen the bond his supporters have with him,” Kornacki said.