Montana Congressional Candidate Greg Gianforte Allegedly Bodyslammed A Reporter Last Night
The Guardian- The Republican candidate for Montana’s congressional seat has been charged with misdemeanor assault after he is alleged to have slammed a Guardian reporter to the floor on the eve of the state’s special election, breaking his glasses and shouting, “Get the hell out of here.”
Ben Jacobs, a Guardian political reporter, was asking Greg Gianforte, a tech millionaire endorsed by Donald Trump, about the Republican healthcare plan when the candidate allegedly “body-slammed” the reporter.
He took me to the ground,” Jacobs said by phone from the back of an ambulance. “I think he wailed on me once or twice … He got on me and I think he hit me … This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics.”
Excuse me for not being shocked by this story, but I’m pretty sure this is just another day at the office in the great state of Montana. In my mind, political races in Montana have long been decided by which candidate could bodyslam his or her opponent first. If a reporter pisses you off, you can bodyslam that reporter as well no questions asked. Instead of debates leading to thinning out the field of politicians for that 1-on-1 bodyslam match, you would have to survive a 30 man battle royal of politicians all looking to win the right to represent the great state of Montana in D.C.
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And this is especially the case if you are running for the state senate seat of my dude Big Swinging Dick Ryan Zinke AKA the Secretary of the Interior from Montana who rode a horse to work his first day on the job in Washington.
And swung Mike Pence’s wife around like a ragdoll while dancing with her right in front of Pencey Poo.
Even Montana’s flag is a throwback to the good old days when MS Paint ruled the planet.
However as a lowly blogger always striving to get his big J journo card, I have to point out a couple things to The Guardian. For one, this doesn’t sound like a bodyslam.
Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, field producer Faith Mangan and photographer Keith Railey witnessed the incident at Gianforte’s campaign headquarters in Montana, according to an account published by foxnews.com. After Jacobs asked Gianforte his question, Acuna wrote: “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him.
That sounds like a chokeslam. I know this may be semantics. But if The Guardian wants to get those clicks up, they should change the word bodyslam to chokeslam. And since there was no video, mayyyyybe sprinkle in that there was a chance this reporter got chokeslammed through a flaming table and dub in Jim Ross screaming “BAH GAWD HE KILLED HIM”. People love that shit.
Two, can we be sure that this story is true without video evidence? Mayor Joe Quimby’s whole political career could have come tumbling down because of a waiter’s story about Quimby’s nephew that was proven false in the infamous Quimby vs. Frenchie case of 1994.
This is what their confrontation sounded like:
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This is what really happened:
And three, Gianforte better hope that this reporter’s elbow is okay.
Jacobs told MSNBC host Chris Hayes that he landed on his elbow during the altercation and is going to get it checked out.
“Next thing I know I’m being body slammed and he’s on top of me for a second, my glasses are broken,” he said.
As a blogger, I can tell you that your elbow is v important to writers since it connects to the arm bone which connects to the wrist bone which connect to the finger bone which is what we use to type these words. And breaking someone’s glasses is a bad look for Gianforte since it then puts you into the bully category since only nerds wear glasses. Then again, this is Montana we are talking about. I’m sure the residents of this fine state wouldn’t mind voting for a bully that will get the job done both in D.C. and in the squared circle. In the end, this whole confrontation may be a net positive for Gianforte. Shit, Trump may have him replace Spicer and bring his reporter chokeslamming ways to Washington.