Overview

Greg Gianforte Bodyslams Reporter refers to the controversy surrounding an event in which Republican House of Representatives candidate Greg Gianforte of Montana allegedly assaulted Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs on the eve of the special election for Montana's lone House seat held between him and Democrat Rob Quist.

Background

On May 24th, 2017, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs tweeted "Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses."^[1] Two hours later, The Guardian^[2] posted an article about the event, including Jacobs' audio of the incident. The event was also corroborated by other reporters on the scene, including several at Fox News,^[3] who posted an article about their account. According to several accounts, Jacobs was attempting to question Gianforte about the American Health Care Act. After Gianforte initially directed Jacobs to a spokesman, Jacobs persisted, at which point Gianforte assaulted him while screaming "I'm sick and tired of this!" According to accounts of the event, Gianforte body slammed Jacobs and landed a couple punches. Jacobs' audio of the event is shown below.

Developments

Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault and faces a $500 fine or 6 months in prison or both.^[4] Before audio of the incident was released, Gianforte's campaign released a statement which contradicted eyewitness accounts of the event. Gianforte's spokesman, Shane Scanlon, said, “After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. 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.”

However, Gianforte is not heard on the recording asking Jacobs to lower the recorder. Gianforte's opponent, Rob Quist, declined to comment, saying it was more a matter for law enforcement. Gianforte won the following day's election.

Online Reaction

Twitter users reacted with a mix of shock and humor at the news. Many users in politics and journalism reacted with concern over whether or not the fact a politician assaulted a reporter would hurt his chances in an election.^[5]

Wrestling Jokes

Many on Twitter made jokes about the incident. While some tied their jokes to current events,^[7] one of the most prominent kinds of jokes compared the incident to something that would happen in Professional Wrestling. Uproxx^[6] covered the prevalence of these jokes.

Search Interest

External References