The dispute between a Breitbart reporter and Donald Trump's campaign manager, explained

A Breitbart reporter claims she was manhandled by Donald Trump's campaign manager at an event, an accusation that the Trump camp has responded to with its preferred strategy: personal attacks on Twitter.

This all started on Tuesday night at a Trump rally in Florida, where Michelle Fields, a reporter for Breitbart, stepped forward to ask Trump a question as he was trying to leave. According to Washington Post reporter Ben Terris, who was there, Trump's manager, Corey Lewandowski, grabbed Fields and yanked her out of the candidate's way. According to Terris, Lewandowski nearly knocked Fields over. Fields later tweeted a photo of her arm that showed finger-size bruising. Politico obtained an audio recording of the incident which reflected Terris's account.

Trump's campaign denies this even happened, and has taken to Twitter to question Fields's character.

The matter isn't resolved. Fields has fired back on social media, and her story has been circulating around the web. Here's what we know.

What happened?

Terris, of the Post, described the event this way:

As security parted the masses to give him passage out of the chandelier-lit ballroom, Michelle Fields, a young reporter for Trump-friendly Breitbart News, pressed forward to ask the GOP front-runner a question. I watched as a man with short-cropped hair and a suit grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way. He was Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s 41-year-old campaign manager.

Fields stumbled. Finger-shaped bruises formed on her arm.

He spoke with Fields immediately after the incident. She appeared shaken.

"I’m just a little spooked," she told Terris. "No one has grabbed me like that before."

She took [Terris's] arm and squeezed it hard. "I don’t even want to do it as hard as he did," she said, "because it would hurt."

On Thursday, Fields recounted the incident in a post on Breitbart in her own words:

I wasn’t called upon to ask a question during the televised press conference, but afterwards Trump wandered around, stopping at every reporter to take their questions. When he approached me, I asked him about his view on an aspect of affirmative action.

Trump acknowledged the question, but before he could answer I was jolted backwards. Someone had grabbed me tightly by the arm and yanked me down. I almost fell to the ground, but was able to maintain my balance. Nonetheless, I was shaken.

[...]

I hope this article answers those questions and I can get back to reporting the news, not being a part of it.

She also sent a tweet that appears to show her arm was bruised:

Trump's camp says this never happened

Trump's people dispute this account. In fact, they say it never even happened.

Trump campaign spokesperson Hope Hicks released a statement to ABC News denying the incident in its entirety, claiming that neither Fields nor Terris had ever met Lewandowski, let alone seen him harm the reporter.

"The accusation which has only been made in the media and never addressed directly with the campaign is entirely false," Hicks said in the statement. "There are often large crowds aggressively seeking access to Mr. Trump and our staff would never do anything to harm another individual, while at the same time understanding that Mr. Trump and his personal space should never be invaded."

Trump's strategy is to go personal

It doesn't stop at denial. Hicks goes on to question Fields's credibility, saying Fields has a history of "becoming part of the news story." She cited Fields's wish to move on from the incident and continue with her campaign reporting:

Lewandowski jumped on board with the personal attacks, tweeting that Fields had previously "accused" former US Congress member Allen West of groping her — citing a story run by Charles C. Johnson, whom Gawker once called "the web's worst journalist":

As Johnson himself says, Fields "repeatedly and emphatically refused comment on the record" for his piece.

This is not the first time Trump and his campaign have gone after a perceived adversary on personal grounds. The New York Times documented recently how the campaign has gone on offense repeatedly through the campaign, using personal attacks to go after opponents, particularly using Twitter, as was the case again Fields:

With his enormous online platform, Mr. Trump has badgered and humiliated those who have dared to cross him during the presidential race. He has latched onto their vulnerabilities, mocking their physical characteristics, personality quirks and, sometimes, their professional setbacks.

The media has been a big target for Trump, who has been known to mock publications and networks during his rallies throughout the campaign. And he has made headlines for holding grudges against journalists, regardless of their publication's partisan leanings (remember the Megyn Kelly/Fox News feud that spanned several months).

Breitbart was forced to tiptoe around the issue

Breitbart, meanwhile, has been forced to walk a fine line between backing its reporter's account and maintaining a friendly relationship with the GOP's leading presidential candidate.

Breitbart CEO Larry Solov released a statement Tuesday night using skeptical language about the incident:

It’s obviously unacceptable that someone crossed a line and made physical contact with our reporter. What Michelle has told us directly is that someone "grabbed her arm" and while she did not see who it was, Ben Terris of the Washington Post told her that it was Corey Lewandowski. If that’s the case, Corey owes Michelle an immediate apology.

On Wednesday, however, Solov responded to the Trump campaign's statement with more resolve, expressing disappointment for "in particular their effort to demean Michelle's previous reporting."

Breitbart was not wrong to be wary about what it says to the Trump campaign. After Solov named Terris as a source in his original statement, Terris, who said he had interviews scheduled with Lewandowski and the Trump team in his account of the incident, had his meetings canceled.