Donald Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, is considering suing BuzzFeed over an article alleging that he made unwanted sexual advances toward female journalists covering the candidate — perhaps doing so under the influence of alcohol. “That’s a question for the attorneys,” Lewandowski told me. “I’m not a public person. I told [BuzzFeed reporter] McKay Coppins that his story was inaccurate. I told him not to publish. And he chose to run the story anyway.”
Coppins, whose story is co-bylined with BuzzFeed reporter Rosie Gray, reported that Lewandowski made “sexual comments about female journalists” and that he called “women in the campaign press corps late at night to make unwanted romantic advances.”
“It’s all conjecture,” Lewandowski said. “Oh, an anonymous source said I did X? Does that mean I can tweet out ‘Mr. Y has had inappropriate relationships with little boys’? Where is the line?”
A BuzzFeed representative told me that the company stands by the story, but otherwise declined to comment on Lewandowski’s remarks.
If Lewandowski chooses to move forward with a suit, he’s working for a candidate who likely won’t object. Trump has a history of suing journalists and likes to call reporters “disgusting.” At a press conference in February, Trump said his administration would look into “opening up libel laws” to punish unfriendly news organizations. “When they write purposely negative and horrible and false articles we can sue them and win lots of money,” he said. “We’re going to have people sue you like you’ve never got sued before.”
