Some days it seems the guy squatting in the White House ought to be named Donald Gotti. Of course, his praise Thursday in Missoula, Montana, of a right-wing congressman for attacking a reporter last year was just a joke. That at least will likely be the spin from the White House and the lickspittle right-wing pundits Friday.
You might remember that in 2017, The Guardian’s reporter Ben Jacobs asked Montana congressional candidate Greg Gianforte a question about the Congressional Budget Office’s scoring of Trump’s healthcare repeal bill, the AHCA or American Health Care Act. Gianforte said he was “sick of this” and assaulted Jacobs, grabbing him by the neck, body-slamming him to the floor, breaking his glasses, and punching him repeatedly. Gianforte subsequently lied about what had happened, claiming Jacobs had grabbed him and they had both fallen to the floor. An audio recording and other reporters who witnessed the attack supported Jacobs’ version.
Gianforte got off easy on a charge of misdeameanor assault, being sentenced originally to four days in jail. But this was later switched to 40 hours of community service, 20 hours of anger management, a 180-day deferred sentence, and a $300 fine and a $85 court fee. He apologized to Jacobs to whom he paid $4,646.97 to cover his medical costs and promised him a sit-down interview at some point, which he later refused.
As a result of the assault, several newspapers that had supported Gianforte for Montana’s single at-large congressional seat withdrew their endorsements. But he won the election by six points anyway.
Thursday, as part of a three-day run of campaign rallies, Trump gave Gianforte a thumbs-up for the assault, suggesting that punching Jacobs may have helped him win:
"Never wrestle him. Never. Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my kind of…he’s my guy. We endorsed Greg really early, but I heard that he had body slammed a reporter. And he was way up …and I said, ‘Oh, this is terrible, he’s going to lose the election.’ But then I said, ‘Well wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him,’ and it did … He’s a great guy and a tough cookie.”
Ho, ho, ho. Trump normalizes physical attacks on the media, on dissenters, on protesters at his rallies, and he gets laughs and huzzahs for it. One of these days, these incitements to violence of his are going to produce a big body count. And that’s no joke.
The Guardian asked for an apology. Uh-huh. As if ...
The White House Correspondents’ Association has blasted Trump for his comment:
The White House Correspondents' Association condemned President Donald Trump Friday after he lauded a lawmaker from Montana a day earlier for body slamming a Guardian reporter.
"All Americans should recoil from the president's praise for a violent assault on a reporter doing his Constitutionally protected job," White House Correspondents' Association president Olivier Knox said in a statement. "This amounts to the celebration of a crime by someone sworn to uphold our laws and an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has solemnly pledged to defend it. We should never shrug at the president cheerleading for a violent act targeting a free and independent news media."
Addendum from Yellowstone Public Radio:
Montana’s Republican Senator, Steve Daines, also spoke at the rally. The Mountain West News Bureau asked him about the President’s comments. Here is that exchange:
Nate Hegyi: “I was hoping to get your response to the President congratulating Gianforte for body-slamming a reporter.”
Steve Daines: “This was an event that was historic, the third time a President has been here I think since Harry Truman.”
NH: “That wasn’t an answer to my question, sorry sir.”
Daines then excused himself and continued walking away.