While most Republicans spend their time taking verbal jabs at  mainstream  reporters (read: not Fox News pundits) who dare to ask them tough questions, Donald Trump s campaign has taken to physically assaulting them. And it s getting worse by the day.In a glimpse of what Trump s presidency may look like should he win, his entourage refused to take responsibility for violently shoving a female reporter at a campaign rally because they thought she was part of the liberal media. They did, however, express remorse after learning she was from conservative website Breitbart. Apparently, violence against reporters is okay, but only if they aren t well-known Trump cheerleaders.Reporters identified Trump s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski after he grabbed Breitbart journalist Michelle Fields  arm and tried to throw her to the ground. According to her boyfriend and colleague Jamie Weinstein from the Daily Caller, Trump s  thugs  retaliated after Fields tried to ask Trump a  tough question. Trump always surrounds himself w thugs. Tonight thug Corey Lewandowski tried to pull my gf @MichelleFields to ground when she asked tough q  Jamie Weinstein (@Jamie_Weinstein) March 9, 2016Instead of apologizing, or better yet, resigning, Lewandowski excused his actions by saying he simply used violence against the wrong person.Lewandowski s explanation to Boyle, said these sources, was that he and Fields had never met before and that he didn t recognize her as a Breitbart reporter, instead mistaking her for an adversarial member of the mainstream media.The admission confirms what many on-lookers have known for quite some time: It s open season on people who speak out against Trump or his campaign. Recently, Trump s secret service detail, nicknamed by appalled critics as  Trump s SS,  choke-slammed a TIME magazine photographer when he stepped outside of the  pen  Trump keeps journalists in at his rally. (Yes, he really does this.) Trump has also made comments about opening up libel laws to go destroy journalists who write things that are negative about him.Adding some bitter irony to all of this is the fact that Breitbart has been a shameless promoter of Trump since the word  go.  At times there homepage is devoted solely to singing Trump s praises. So the question became, how would they respond to this flagrant act of violence towards one of their journalists?  The answer was: Throw Fields under the bus.Rather than stand up for one of their employees, the staff at Breitbart have at various times called into question the veracity of her claims. Breitbart writers went full-false flag on their own reporter. Here s Fields  colleague explicitly calling her a liar on Twitter.Indeed, Breitbart s CEO hinted that Fields was not telling the truth about their beloved candidate as well, saying only that  if  someone did grab her, then they should apologize. So much for standing up for your employees, huh? (UPDATE: After wide-spread condemnation from journalists standing in solidarity with Fields, Breitbart reportedly suspended Patrick Howley.)Breitbart readers, naturally, weren t much more sympathetic. After Fields penned a (very careful) essay on what happened to her, this sexist screed became the number one comment.Breitbart has made a name for itself for its use of bullying and mudslinging as a business model. They frequently post stories targeting non-public figures and use their frenzied hate mob readers as a personal army to attack liberals or critics. Fields certainly doesn t deserve the violence she experienced from Trump s staff, nor the ugly backlash she s getting from her own readers, but it s not surprising. She works for a company that routinely attacks female journalists, anti-Trump conservatives, and liberals of all stripes. Her audience is primed for this sort of hate-filled dog piling. The fact that Breitbart can t even stand up for one of their own speaks volumes.Featured image via Gage Skidmore/Flickr