Montana GOP candidate reeling from blowback after body slamming Guardian reporter

[DonViejo]

THURSDAY, MAY 25, 2017 07:42 AM EDT

Montana papers are pulling their endorsements of Montana GOP candidate Greg Gianforte after he attacked a reporter

MATTHEW ROZSA

The Montana congressional election was already much closer than many Republicans wanted, so the last thing they needed was for their candidate to be recorded and observed body-slamming a reporter — Ben Jacobs of The Guardian — who did nothing more than ask a tough question.

Now newspapers that endorsed GOP nominee Greg Gianforte are pulling their endorsements.

“If what was heard on tape and described by eyewitnesses is accurate, the incident in Bozeman is nothing short of assault,” declared the Billings Gazette as it pulled its endorsement of Gianforte. “We wouldn’t condone it if it happened on the street. We wouldn’t condone it if it happened in a home or even a late-night bar fight. And we couldn’t accept it from a man who is running to become Montana’s lone Congressional representative.”

The Helena Independent Record, like the Billings Gazette, noted that Gianforte has made threatening comments about the media in the past. “In the past, he has encouraged his supporters to boycott certain newspapers, singled out a reporter in a room to point out that he was outnumbered, and even made a joke out of the notion of choking a news writer, and these are not things we can continue to brush off,” the newspaper writes. It adds that, because of Gianforte’s attack on Jacobs, “we cannot in good faith continue to support this candidate.”

The third Montana newspaper that had endorsed Gianforte also pulled its support.

“The Republican candidate for Congress not only lost the endorsement of this newspaper Wednesday night when, according to witnesses, he put his hands around the throat of a reporter asking him about his health care stance, threw him to the ground and punched him,” wrote the Missoulian, “he should lose the confidence of all Montanans.”

more
http://www.salon.com/2017/05/25/montana-gop-candidate-reeling-from-blowback-after-body-slamming-guardian-reporter/

[WinkyDink]

1. If what was heard on tape and described by eyewitnesses is accurate,..." IF? IF?!

[LisaM]

27. I think they are just protecting themselves legally.

Everyone knows it happened.

[Happyhippychick]

2. How can a newspaper endorse a candidate that is anti-media in the first place???

Again, party before country. The media outlets should be ashamed of themselves if they support a single republican who blasts the media and interferes with freedom of the press.

So that's my way of saying F you to the newspaper - they shouldn't have endorsed him in the first place.

[vi5]

3. Sadly...

...this will only serve to endear him more to the mouth breathing neanderthals that vote Republican.

[beachbum bob]

4. Newspapers endorsements have min impact on elections...

Besides conservatives gravitate to bullying

[dalton99a]

11. Agreed.

Exhibit A: 2016 elections

[lapfog_1]

5. sadly it is my belief that this only helps him

with the base Repuke voters.

These are the people running around with "Visualize No Liberals" and "Open Season on Liberals - No Limit" bumper stickers.

A few decades of hate radio and Fox News has done this to our nation. Education and reason are devalued, conspiracy theories replace them. Even in my previously mostly moderate to left leaving family...

[JudyM]

22. DUers can help GOTV for Quist TODAY - adding *Link to PHONEBANK*

We can fight this and win.

http://www2.democracyforamerica.com/dfadialer?source=em170524-ourrev

[janterry]

6. Just read the comment sections on two of the editorials

and folks were - mostly - just reflecting a party bias. The republicans were saying, basically, good for him - and about time .

That reporter was being a reporter - and asking, btw, an important question. Gianforte had his hands around the reporter's neck. He could have killed him -

[Golden Raisin]

7. Proof of the pudding will be to see if

Gianforte wins after this. Most Republican politicians and voters would cheerfully jettison and spit on both the First Amendment and reporters in general.

[librechik]

8. Why isn't he nursing his hurt feelings in a jail cell? Oh right, Sheriff is his buddy.

ain't the Wile West great?

[beachbum bob]

13. Assault and battery is easily bail, no chance to spend night in jail

Nope. The real framing of this is conservative squashing free speech just like brown shirts did in 1920s...it's not about assault, it's about American freedom

[Hassin Bin Sober]

15. Regardless of how easy bail is, he should have been led away from the scene in handcuffs.

There were several eyewitnesses, audio recording, and a victim in an ambulance.

No reason he should have taken a ride in a police cruiser

[Scurrilous]

9. K&R

[Orrex]

10. I've seen a parade of assholes on FB supporting/praising him for it

I doubt this will have any significant impact on his chances. His supporters, by and large, seem to see it as a "Libtard snowflake media whore getting his due." I've even seen some people arguing that the victim should be jailed.


Surely this is the best of all possible worlds.

[ProfessorGAC]

12. Weren't Those Type Going to Vote For Him Anyway

I'm thinking this is the kind of thing that changes the minds of centrists and independents. No?

[Orrex]

14. I'm hopeful, but...

I honestly can't imagine that a so-called Centrist or so-called Independent, at this stage of the game, would be swayed by any revelation about him. I mean, if they couldn't see the writing on the wall before this, then they've clearly already accepted him warts and all.

Short of something Earth-shattering, like he's friends with the Clintons or he voted for Obama, I'm confident that they'll find a way to rationalize their vote for him regardless.

Parenthetically, that's basically how I predict that most Trump voters will justify their Republican votes in 2018 and 2020 despite the non-stop catastrophe wrought by the GOP.

[ProfessorGAC]

33. Yeah, That's A Fair Take

But, we know "it" got away with the excuse of "locker room talk". Body slamming people isn't "locker room talk". It's actually willfully trying to hurt somebody. Don't know if there is an excuse that centrists would buy, when it comes to beating someone up for doing their job. And i know assault is assault. Not sure if other people all see it that way.

[rusty fender]

17. Yeah, but that was what we thought about

the pussy grabber tape, yet enough centrists and independents didn't let sexual assault bother them

[Orrex]

21. Yes, exactly.

Sadly, we have that clear and recent precedent to show us how much "Centrists" and "Independents" are willing to overlook in order to elect a Republican.

[rusty fender]

29. They're

ashamed to call themselves Republicans, but not ashamed to vote for them--disgusting deplorables

[Orrex]

31. I agree

In my life I have known a great many self-declared "Indepedents," and all but one or two of them voted Republican in every single election. They simply wanted to pretend that labels don't apply to them.

[rusty fender]

32. Freaking, whiny cowards!

The lot of them

[Greywing]

19. Are they actual Montana voters or just the usual trolls?

Sorry ... don't have FB, so I'm just asking a serious question.

[Orrex]

34. Good question

And you're right that I shouldn't presume to speak for Montana. It is indeed the usual trolls, and my generalization, alas, was fueled by the fact that the Republican herd seldom defies the sentiment of the usual Republican trolls.

Still, let's hope that's a premature assessment...

[book_worm]

16. Good, shows he has a violent streak but people don't care about newspaper endorsements

if they did HRC would have won by a landslide.

[Thrill]

18. But they were ok with him supporting Trumpcare

[leftstreet]

24. The hypocrisy is always stunning

Deprive people of healthcare, food assistance, social safety

BUT OMG HE PUNCHED SOMEONE

I just don't get it

[peggysue2]

20. Sadly . . .

a large portion of the vote was already cast before this damning incident. Last night there was a reporter who was in Missoula when the incident occurred. He went into a convenience store and asked the clerk what she thought. Her reply?

'Sounds like my kind of candidate.'

Stunning. But this is what happens when the head of the Republican party consistently demonizes the press. DT ranted against the press during the campaign. To wild cheers. He continues to berate reporters and 'fake news' when the headlines are negative, which they are now, nearly universally. The press is the problem, Trumpsters believe. Reporters are the scum of the earth, they'll chant. So this takedown of a reporter is consistent with the message.

Which makes the countering message all the more important: Resist.

[JudyM]

23. Link here to Phonebank to get the vote out *TODAY* for Quist if anyone has time.

http://www2.democracyforamerica.com/dfadialer?source=em170524-ourrev

[Tarc]

25. I've read today that early voters in Montana cannot re-vote

and they estimate that half turned in early ballots.

[DeminPennswoods]

30. Don't know about Montana, but in PA if

you voted by absentee ballot (the only "early voting" allowed), you can still show up at the poll and vote. The election board will invalidate the absentee ballot and your in person vote will be the one counted.

[catbyte]

26. I'm predicting he'll still win by double digits. Too cynical?

[Orsino]

28. Is he really "reeling"?

I assumed he was too busy winning the election.

Don't we expect law enforcement to mysteriously drop the charge?