On the night before a hotly contested special election, law enforcement responded to the campaign headquarters for Montana U.S. House candidate Greg Gianforte after a national political reporter alleged the Republican “body slammed” him, sending a last-minute shock wave through the race.
The reporter, Ben Jacobs of The Guardian, claimed on Twitter that he was assaulted by Gianforte.
“Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses,” Jacobs tweeted.
Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017
In an emailed statement, Shane Scanlon, spokesman for the Gianforte campaign, gave a different account of what happened.
“Tonight, as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave. After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined,” Scanlon said.“Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg’s wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It’s unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”
Audio of the encounter posted by the Guardian to YouTube confirmed some sort of confrontation.
According to an audio clip, Jacobs asked Gianforte a question about health care. Gianforte told Jacobs to speak with his campaign spokesman.
Then, a loud crashing is heard, after which Gianforte said, “I’m sick and tired of you guys. The last guy that came in here, you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here!”
“Get the hell out of here,” he repeated. “The last guy did the same thing. You with the Guardian?”
“Yes,” Jacobs replied. “You just broke my glasses.”
“The last guy did the same damn thing,” Gianforte said.
“You just body slammed me and broke my glasses,” Jacobs said.
“Get the hell out here,” Gianforte said.
“If you’d like me to get the hell out of here, I’d also like to call the police,” Jacobs said.
A Fox News Channel crew was at the scene and posted a story on the Fox News website.
“Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him ... I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’” a Fox News reporter wrote in the story.
Jacobs was evaluated in an ambulance at the scene and taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital, according to the Hyalite Fire Department.
He left the hospital at approximately 7:25 p.m. in a sheriff’s office vehicle. He was wearing a sling around his arm. He refused to comment on the incident.
Gianforte was seen sitting in a vehicle near his campaign headquarters during the incident and had been speaking with Gallatin County deputies. Medical responders provided initial care to him at the scene. The candidate left the scene shortly before 6 p.m. without speaking to reporters.
Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin said witnesses are still being interviewed, including Jacobs. Investigators also have interviewed Gianforte. He added his office has retrieved the audio from Jacobs and has been in contact with Gallatin County Atttorney Marty Lambert.
He said charges were not filed at the scene because investigators didn’t have enough information at the time. He said the detective division is treating the case like any other investigation.
“After this week, this is the last thing we needed,” Gootkin said, referring to the shooting death and funeral of Broadwater County Sheriff’s Deputy Mason Mooore.
Gootkin said no other agency is helping with the investigation.
Alexis Levinson, a reporter for Buzzfeed News, told MSNBC that she had given a statement to the sheriff’s office. In tweets and on air, she said she saw Jacobs go into a room where Gianforte was.
“I heard the crash and saw his feet fly,” she told MSNBC live on the air.
All of a sudden I heard a giant crash and saw Ben's feet fly in the air as he hit the floor— Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017
The campaign event, a barbecue, continued at the campaign headquarters without Gianforte.
Jacobs was asking Gianforte for his position on the U.S. House health care vote
Gianforte had told reporters he wouldn’t support the House version of the repeal of Obamacare. He said he’d wait to take a position until he had more information, including the Congressional Budget Office report, which was published Wednesday afternoon.
The same day the New York Times posted audio of Gianforte talking to Republican lobbyists, saying he was “thankful” the Republican version of the bill had passed the House.
His opponent, Democrat Rob Quist, has been hammering Gianforte for the seeming inconsistency.
Hours after the incident, national news cable outlets such as CNN, MSNBC and others reported on the incident. Talk show pundits also debated and analyzed the incident live on the air for hours. Gootkin later joined Don Lemon on CNN for a live interview. Jacobs also provided a national TV interview.
The Guardian later released a statement on the incident.
“The Guardian is deeply appalled about how our reporter, Ben Jacobs, was treated in the course of doing his job as a journalist while reporting on the Montana special election. We are committed to holding power to account and we stand by Ben and our team of reporters for the questions they ask and the reporting that is produced,” said Lee Glendinning, Guardian U.S. editor.
Rob Saldin, a political science professor at the University of Montana, said the incident could be a sign that the Gianforte campaign is worried about what Thursday’s result may be.
“This is extremely bizarre behavior for a candidate in the final hours of a campaign,” Saldin said. “A lot of things have been going wrong for the Gianforte campaign. This was supposed to be an easy win. If they’re feeling totally confident today, I just don’t see this kind of thing happening.”
Saldin called the incident “totally nuts,” but he added that most people have already voted. He said some voters might support this sort of behavior, especially because Gianforte has tied himself so closely to Trump.
Jeremy Johnson, a political science professor at Carroll College, said the incident may not have a major impact on the race because so many absentee ballots have been turned in. He added that it could swing some voters who were on the fence up to the very last day.
Johnson said there might be some Republican voters who will sympathize with the candidate, but that the incident is most likely to help his Democratic opponent.
“I’ve never seen anything like this,” Johnson said. “It will not help Gianforte.”
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