Let's deconstruct Greg Gianforte's unbelievable defense of assaulting a reporter

[DonViejo]

Updated by Jeff Stein May 25, 2017, 9:10am EDT

Shortly after he was publicly accused of assaulting a reporter Wednesday night, House candidate Greg Gianforte (R-MT) put out a statement that portrayed himself as the victim of the altercation.

Link to tweet

Shane Scanlon, Gianforte’s spokesperson, made a number of specific factual assertions. One was that the Guardian’s Ben Jacobs was had “aggressively shoved” a tape recorder in Gianforte’s face. Another was that Jacobs had asked “badgering questions,” and that Jacobs (a “liberal journalist”) made first contact in the incident by grabbing Gianforte’s wrist. After grabbing Gianforte’s wrist, the statement continued, Jacobs “spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.” This “aggressive behavior,” the statement said, “created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ.”

It’s worth deconstructing not just how much this clashes with several other eye-witness accounts, but also what such brazen elision of the truth says about the candidate running for Congress.

Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault by Montana law enforcement and is scheduled to appear in court before June 7. On Thursday, voters will head to pick between him and Democrat Rob Quist. A loss would be Gianforte’s second in a short few months; in November 2016, he lost a governor’s race against Democrat Steve Bullock.

more
https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2017/5/25/15689924/greg-gianforte-defense-assault

[Neema]

1. I think "liberal journalist" is the key phrase. He knows there were eyewitnesses but he's hoping

that voters will see it as a plus that he assaulted an evil liberal journalist and will see Gianforte as the poor persecuted one. And I believe there will be plenty of people who will very much react that way. That's the type of environment we live in now, thanks to 45 and the rest of the GOP.