Authorities have charged Greg Gianforte with assault ahead of today's congressional election. (The Hill)
Politicians have long had strategies for dealing with unwanted questions from reporters, but body-slamming?
Ben Jacobs of the Guardian, reporting on the special election to fill Montana's one congressional seat, says that's what Republican candidate Greg Gianforte did to him. Jacobs was at Gianforte campaign headquarters in Bozeman when he spotted the candidate prepping for a TV interview in a side room. He walked in and attempted to ask Gianforte about the Republican healthcare bill -- and the tech billionaire-turned-politician went off on him.
There's no video of the incident, but in the audio of the incident posted to YouTube you can hear a very angry Gianforte repeatedly shouting, “Get the hell out of here,” then some crashing, and then Jacobs' claim that he'd been body-slammed to the ground with his glasses broken.
The Gianforte campaign blames Jacobs, saying he was overly aggressive and calling him "a liberal journalist." Other reporters on the scene back up Jacobs' account.
Jacobs reported the incident to local police, who are investigating.