The Note: Trump Stands by His Man
— -- NOTABLES
--TRUMP THREATENS LEGAL ACTION OVER CHARGE AGAINST CAMPAIGN MANAGER: Donald Trump says he is considering legal action in response to a recent battery charge against his campaign manager Corey Lewandowski, ABC’s RYAN STRUYK reports. "Frankly, this is not a claim that should have been made," Trump told ABC News' David Muir on "Good Morning America" this morning. Lewandowski was charged with battery yesterday for allegedly grabbing former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields following a Trump event earlier this month. Trump dismissed the incident as "very minor," saying that "practically nothing happened." "I'm sure there will be a counter-claim coming down the line," Trump added. "Should I file charges against her because she touched my arm as well?" http://abcn.ws/22O6qoP
--TRUMP INSISTED THAT FIELDS WAS "HARDLY EVEN TOUCHED:" "Her face wasn’t that of a woman screaming in pain," Trump said. "He didn’t try to throw her to the ground. You look at Twitter, people think it’s a total disgrace she’s filing charges," he said, referring to the Jupiter, Florida, Police Department's investigation revealing probable cause to charge Lewandowski. "This case, let it go to court." http://abcn.ws/22O6qoP
--CLINTON BLAMES DONALD TRUMP FOR CAMPAIGN MANAGER’S BEHAVIOR: Hillary Clinton weighed in on the charge brought against Donald Trump's campaign manager yesterday, telling reporters in Wisconsin that “every candidate has to be responsible for what happens in their campaign.” Clinton accused Trump of inciting violence at his campaign events, according to ABC’s MATTHEW CLAIBORNE. “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,” Clinton said. “And including this charge that was now brought against his campaign manager.” http://abcn.ws/1VSwVnH
--ANALYSIS -- ABC’s RICK KLEIN: Donald Trump said Tuesday night that a reporter’s pen might have been a “little bomb.” That has nothing on what came out of Trump’s mouth in the CNN forum, where he renounced the famous pledge to support the GOP nominee, and proceeded to make conservative jaw drops with his answers to policy questions. Trump named education and healthcare as two of the top three functions of the federal government, and seemed to endorse the idea of Japan, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia getting nuclear weapons. That doesn’t even get into the Corey Lewandowski incident, where Trump is now threatening legal action against reporter Michelle Fields, despite the criminal charges filed against his campaign manager. It’s now more clear than ever that if Trump wins the Republican nomination, he won’t do it as a conservative in any traditional sense of the word, or as a candidate who fits any norm in American politics. Maybe that’s the secret to his success. But if Trump wins Wisconsin next week despite all of this – or even because of it – will a plausible path to blocking Trump continue to exist? This could be the showdown all sides have been waiting for.
YESTERDAY ON THE TRAIL with ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and PAOLA CHAVEZ
BEHIND THE COREY LEWANDOWSKI BATTERY CHARGE. Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski was charged Tuesday with battery of former Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields during a March 8 incident at the Trump National Golf Club in Jupiter, Florida, police said. Lewandowski was charged with one count of simple battery, a misdemeanor, by the Jupiter Police Department. “Lewandowski then grabbed Fields’ left arm with his right hand, causing her to turn and step back,” according to the police report, describing new video of the incident. “Based on the above-described investigation, probable cause exists to charge Corey Lewandowski.” Police documents say that Lewandowski was charged this morning. He was released with a notice to appear in court, police said. Jupiter Police told ABC News that Lewandowski is scheduled to appear in court on May 4. http://abcn.ws/1MyQJdz
TRUMP PUSHES BACK: Speaking to reporters ahead of his campaign event in Wisconsin, Trump defended Lewandowski: “When somebody is maligned so unfairly as that, I will stick by them,” Trump told reporters aboard his private plane. “I just can't stand by and watch a man's life be destroyed.” ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI reports, Trump said that Lewandowski was trying to block Fields from grabbing him. “He was trying to block her,” Trump said, referring to video released Tuesday by the Jupiter Police along with the police report. “That's the way I would view it, and she's grabbing me and asking questions. She's not even supposed to ask questions.” http://abcn.ws/25uX6VC
WHY SCOTT WALKER ENDORSED TED CRUZ. Gov. Scott Walker endorsed Ted Cruz for president Tuesday, saying it was an “easy call” to back the Texas senator. The Wisconsin governor announced his decision to support Cruz in an interview on Milwaukee radio station, Newsradio 620 WTMJ, and said that he would campaign with Cruz at “a number of stops.” “He’s got an excellent tax plan. He’s got a strong, strong record like [Ronald] Reagan did, as far as a plan to rebuild our military,” Walker said. ABC’s VERONICA STRACQUALURSI and RYAN STRUYK report, Walker also said Cruz was the “best positioned by far to win the nomination and defeat Hillary Clinton in the fall.” http://abcn.ws/1REKJPx.
TRUMP UPS ANTE AGAINST GOP ESTABLISHMENT IN PAUL RYAN’S HOMETOWN. Of the many enemies Donald Trump has jousted with this campaign season, he’s handled few as delicately as he has Paul Ryan, notes ABC’s RICK KLEIN. Even as Ryan has chastised Trump’s tone, Trump has pulled his punches with the House speaker. He’s said, on occasion, that he’s more conservative than Ryan, but usually adds that he’s eager to work alongside the man who has, remarkably, united his rambunctious conference in a time of GOP divisions. Yet on Tuesday, Trump is using Ryan’s hometown of Janesville to kick off his Wisconsin campaign. Even on a day roiled by controversy, with his campaign manager facing criminal charges and Trump himself accused of peddling dirt on a rival candidate, it’s a move filled with political symbolism. It’s also a sign that Trump intends to mow right through the Republican establishment, or what’s left of it after Trump’s early romps through the voting calendar. http://abcn.ws/1SuRQdH
WHO’S TWEETING?
@jdickerson: Are the non-Trump GOP candidates backing away from the pledge to support the GOP nominee or merely averting their eyes from it?
@InesdLC: Rubio spox on Rubio wanting to keep delegates: "Of course, he's no longer a candidate and wants to give voters a chance to stop Trump"
@SarahHuckabee: New report GOP elites plan to change rules at the end of game to steal election from @realDonaldTrump. Is USA a democracy or kleptocracy?
@jmartNYT: WI will prove Trump had a death wish or is Teflon: Picking fights w Ryan, Walker(for not raising taxes!) talk radio http://m.jsonline.com/news/blogs/373927471.html …
@TeddyDavisCNN: Who would Trump appoint to Supreme Court? "I would probably appoint people who who would look closely at (Hillary's) email disaster." @gma