The Daily Trail: Trump's many reactions to battery charges against his campaign manager

. (Photo by Jabin Botsford/The Washington Post)

We know that Donald Trump is capable of revising his positions at a moment's notice. He changed his position at least 20 times in the first two months of his campaign, as Philip Bump noted today. But rarely do his positions evolve so rapidly, and publicly, as they did today following the announcement of battery charges against his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski.

The first came weeks ago, following the allegations by then-Breitbart News reporter Michelle Fields that Lewandowski had grabbed her arm and bruised her as she tried to ask the mogul a question following a campaign event.

It didn't happen, the Trump team said, and there was no video evidence proving otherwise.

But, as we learned today when Lewandowski was charged with battery in Florida: there was footage of the moment. It came from one of Trump's own cameras. And it's been in police hands since shortly after the incident:

Trump's first reaction today, shortly after his campaign released a statement of support for Lewandowski: The tape doesn't show anything.

His second reaction: Fields might have changed her story. (She hasn't)

Soon after that, a new approach: maybe Lewandowski was protecting him from Fields (who had been credentialed by the campaign, wanded by the Secret Service, and was carrying...a pen. As reporters tend to do.)

(Later, he went a bit further: "It was almost like he was trying to keep her off me, right?" he asked the crowd at a campaign event in Janesville, Wis.)

And then, in a press conference aboard his plane shortly before a Wisconsin campaign event, a new tack: Maybe it was all a setup. "How do you know those bruises [photographed shortly after the incident] weren't there already?" he asked. "Who put them there?"

Earlier Tuesday, Trump spokeswoman said Lewandowski would remain with the campaign even if he were convicted of the misdemeanor charge. Trump pointed to Lewandowski's wife and children, and said he was standing by his adviser. "I don't discard people," he told reporters, adding later at his town hall: "[To say] 'Corey you're fired'...I can't do that."

(He probably didn't mean that literally, since firing people is definitely a thing he can do. He's a firing professional.)

"So, what we know is that the man tasked with electing Donald Trump president a) lied about his interaction with Fields and b) has been charged with simple battery due to his role in that incident," said Chris Cillizza. "Under normal -- or even semi-normal -- circumstances, Lewandowski would be looking for a job before the end of today."

There have been many words used to describe the 2016 campaign. "Normal" is not one of those words.

CRUZ: IT'S THE 'ABUSIVE' TRUMP CAMPAIGN CULTURE:

(Reuters screengrab)

Ted Cruz, taking advantage of a respite from Wife-gate, said Trump's trail approach was to blame for the charge against Lewandowski, who plans to plead 'not guilty' when he appears in court May 4.

"It's a very sad development," Cruz told reporters outside a Milwaukee restaurant Tuesday afternoon. "This 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. That has no place in a political campaign."

Later, he told CNN's Anderson Cooper that "it shouldn't be complicated that members of the campaign staff should not be physically assaulting the press."

(The Cruz campaign also announced today they'd be rolling out the "Women for Cruz" coalition Wednesday.) #ISWYDT

Hillary Clinton also pointed to Trump's campaign culture -- though she declined to say Lewandowski should be fired, calling the matter a "pending case," reports Abby Phillip.

"Every candidate has to be responsible for what happens in their campaign, and as I’ve said repeatedly, what Donald Trump has been doing over these last months is inciting violent behavior, aggressive behavior that I think is very dangerous and has resulted in attacks on people at his events and including this charge that was brought against his campaign manager,” Clinton told reporters during a stop at a La Crosse, Wis. brewery.

She praised former Michelle Fields for going to law enforcement after the incident, and said it was a reminder that women voters should be paying attention to Trump's rhetoric. “He has set some fires, and people have acted in ways that I think are deplorable, and, therefore, he has to be held responsible,” she added.

. (Photo by Melina Mara/The Washington Post)

Of course, November's a long, long way from today. And whatever impact the incident might have on general election voters, it's even less certain to dramatically change any primary season calculus -- to, say, move Republican women or late-deciding Wisconsin voters in large numbers ahead of next Tuesday's vote there. Literally nothing he's said or done over the course of his campaign has cost him with his core supporters (or, as Trump puts it: He could "shoot somebody" on Fifth Avenue without losing his base.) Campaigning, for Trump, means never having to say you're sorry -- and without an apology, many of his voters will never accept that he or his team have gone wrong.

"Trump's campaign has been built on giving his core group of fervent supporters enough reasonable doubt about his critics to dismiss them out of hand," notes Philip Bump. "Here, Trump's building a case worthy of Johnnie Cochran to point in every direction besides Lewandowski's."

Meanwhile, outside the Trump rally, which was reportedly patrolled by 300 law enforcement officers from two states (not counting Secret Service or private security):

(Video of the incident here)

Inside the venue, Trump bashed Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker's economic record, just a few hours after Walker formally endorsed Ted Cruz. Another Wisconsin pol to feel a chill coming from the Janesville event: hometown son Paul Ryan, with Trump's mention of the House Speaker's name drawing boos from the crowd.

#WISCONSIN:

CAMPAIGN FASHION REPORT:

WHAT HILLARY CLINTON HAS IN COMMON WITH #BERNIEORBUST:

Susan Sarandon laid out her own #BernieOrBust case today: "Some people feel Donald Trump will bring the revolution immediately if he gets in..."

After Twitter exploded, she clarified: just because Trump's election might bring the revolution she supports doesn't mean she'd support Trump's election.

The Sanders campaign released a new contrast spot -- "Two Visions" -- calling for the breakup of big banks:

The two visions will apparently face off on the same stage again soon; the where and the when are still tbd, but the New York Democratic debate appears to be a go. (They're on the same side of the river, so we will not be calling it a Subway Series. No.) Hillary Clinton's campaign said she'd be spending the next two days in New York, campaigning for a race that's three weeks away, rather than sticking in Wisconsin, which votes Tuesday -- the latest sign her team may feel less than thrilled with how the latter race is shaping up in the home stretch.

YES, THE '90s ARE BACK: By the way, about Lewandowski's legal team....

If the name "Kendall Coffey" sounds familiar, it's probably because you, like us, have devoted valuable brain space to (alleged) two decades-old stripper-biting scandals.

YOUR DAILY TRAIL PIT STOP: Campaign puppies. Because they really do make everything better.

Not that puppies are necessarily picking sides or anything: