Colleagues of Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski call him lewd, hotheaded, unprofessional

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published 15 March 2016

Donald Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski recently skidded into the public eye when he was accused of roughly grabbing Breitbart reporter Michelle Fields. While both Trump and Lewandowski have denied the incident, some of Trump's staff as well as former colleagues of Lewandowski say the behavior isn't so out-of-line with the man they know.

According to over 20 sources who spoke with Politico, Lewandowski has a history of being hotheaded, lewd about female journalists, and often profane when laying into co-workers who challenge his authority. His behavior is cited by some as being entirely unprofessional and inappropriate: While working for the Koch brothers' Americans for Prosperity advocacy network, Lewandowski once threatened to "blow up" the car of the organization's chief financial officer due to a late expense reimbursement check.

But some of his most fiery clashes came with a female official who ran one of the states under Lewandowski's control. The relationship ― and patience for Lewandowski within AFP ― reached a tipping point in October 2013. On the sidelines of a meeting of the group’s board in Manhattan, Lewandowski loudly berated the employee for challenging his authority, getting in her personal space and calling her a "c---" in front of a group of AFP employees, including some senior officials, according to three sources who either witnessed the exchange or dealt with its aftermath. [Politico]

Politico adds that several current and former high-ranking members of Trump's campaign actually planned to serve Trump with a letter addressing their concerns about Lewandowski, but put the plan aside after Trump's sweeping wins in the early primary states. The staffers assumed that as long as he was winning, Trump would see no reason to make any changes.

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.