Montana Republican Candidate Accused of “Body Slamming” Reporter

Greg Gianforte has been issued a citation for misdemeanor assault for having attacked Guardian scribe Ben Jacobs.

Republican candidate Greg Gianforte (right) at a campaign for the Montana election. (Photo: AP)

Montana Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte was accused of physically assaulting a reporter on the campaign trail on Wednesday, the eve of a special election to fill the state's lone seat in the US House of Representatives.

Ben Jacobs, a political correspondent for the US edition of the Guardian newspaper, said in a Twitter post and in a television interview that Gianforte “body slammed” him, breaking his eyeglasses, at a campaign event in Bozeman.

The incident, capping a campaign seen as a possible bellwether for next year's mid-term congressional races, occurred as Jacobs was trying to ask Gianforte about healthcare, according to an audio tape captured by Jacobs and played on cable television networks MSNBC and CNN.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office issued Gianforte a citation for misdemeanor assault.

Fox News Channel reporter Alicia Acuna, who said she and her crew were in the room preparing to interview Gianforte, wrote that she saw Gianforte as he “grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him to the ground”.

Acuna, her field producer and photographer then “watched in disbelief as Gianforte began punching (Jacobs) as he moved to top of the reporter”.

Gianforte's campaign did not deny Jacobs’ allegation but countered in its own statement that Jacobs instigated an altercation by barging into the candidate's office, shoving a recording device in his face “and began asking badgering questions”.

"After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined," campaign spokesman Shane Scanlon wrote. "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

Statement by Gianforte’s campaign

Acuna disputed that Jacobs was the aggressor.

“At no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte,” Acuna wrote in her account on the Fox News website.

Interviewed later on MSNBC, Jacobs said he retreated to a parking lot after the confrontation to call his editor and the police. He said he was speaking to MSNBC from a hospital where he was getting his elbow X-rayed.

What The Audio Tape Says

In Jacobs' audio tape of the incident, Gianforte is heard shouting: “I'm sick and tired of you guys. The last guy who came here, you did the same thing.”

After loud scuffling noises are heard, Gianforte repeatedly yells: “Get the hell out of here.” Jacobs is heard saying: "You just body-slammed me and broke my glasses."

Another reporter, Alexis Levinson of BuzzFeed News, who was just outside the office, said on Twitter:

Earlier, Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin told an evening news conference that deputies were interviewing Jacobs, had obtained a copy of his recording, and had spoken briefly to Gianforte at the scene before he left.

Tech executive Gianforte is running against Democrat Rob Quist, a banjo-playing political novice who hopes to pull off a surprise victory in the Republican-leaning state.

A victory for Quist could signal trouble ahead for President Donald Trump and his fellow Republicans as they defend their 24-seat House majority in the 2018 mid-term elections.

Quist and Gianforte are vying for the seat vacated when Trump, who carried Montana by more than 20 percentage points, named Ryan Zinke as U.S. interior secretary.

Republicans have held the seat for two decades and Gianforte was still the favorite. However, both sides say the race was tightening as Quist focused on criticism of Republican efforts to repeal and replace former Democratic President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law, the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.

(This article has been edited for length.)