Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs was allegedly body slammed by Montana GOP congressional candidate Greg Gianforte on the eve of a special election in that state. The incident apparently took place at Gianforte’s headquarters when the Jacobs was asking the candidate about the CBO score that was released today for the House healthcare bill.
Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses
— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017
Aside from the claims, what’s particularly damning for Gianforte is the incident was caught on an audio recording.
OMG. Here’s the audio of the incident. Greg Gianforte just BODYSLAMMED a reporter. #FlipThe406 pic.twitter.com/MW7P8dJDjb
— SeriouslyUS? (@USseriously) May 25, 2017
I would say I’m surprised however this is just a reflection of the rhetoric spewed by Donald Trump when he called the media the “enemy of the people”.
Anyways, here’s a statement from Gianforte’s campaign which is sounding more and more like complete bullshit.
Gianforte's statement: pic.twitter.com/WVNdA1yZ8w
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 25, 2017
“It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.” So now actions sounding and appearing to be trending toward pure assault have become partisan political issue?
I guess this is the country we’re living in now.
UPDATE: Here’s a Fox News account of what happens which pretty much backs up Jacobs’ story as well as the audio.
Fox News reporter/eye-witness: "Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck and slammed him into ground behind him."🤦🏻♀️ https://t.co/OrVwREMFmF
— Ana Navarro-Cárdenas (@ananavarro) May 25, 2017
