Here’s (hopefully) the wildest campaign story of 2017: On the eve of Thursday’s special congressional election in Montana, Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs asked GOP candidate Greg Gianforte a couple of questions about the CBO score of the House health care bill. Gianforte responded by—I kid you not—body-slamming the reporter and breaking his glasses. There’s audiotape and eyewitnesses to prove it. Listen here:
And here, then, is how Gianforte’s campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon, spun the story:
It’s hard to unpack all the lies in that short statement, but let’s start with the biggest one, which is: “Jacobs grabbed Greg’s wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground.” Because this wasn’t a he-said/he-said. The entire scene took place in front of other reporters, from Fox News. Here’s how the Fox News eyewitnesses described the incident: “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter. As Gianforte moved on top of Jacobs, he began yelling something to the effect of, ‘I’m sick and tired of this!'”
The Fox News reporters add that “at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte.”
Gianforte was subsequently cited for misdemeanor assault.
Several journalists on Twitter said Wednesday night that the attack on the reporter in Montana reminded them of the 2010 Massachusetts Senate special election, when an aide to Democratic candidate Martha Coakley shoved me into a metal railing and left me with a pair of ripped pants and a bruised leg.
This story isn’t about me, but since some are making the comparison, here are two brief points: One, what happened to Jacobs (according to Fox News eyewitnesses)—that he was grabbed by the neck, body-slammed, and punched—is much worse than being hip-checked into a metal fence.
Two, the Gianforte campaign’s lies about Jacobs are even worse than Gianforte’s physical attack on Jacobs. Lying about anyone is wrong, but a journalist’s livelihood depends on his reputation for honest and accurate reporting. My biggest concern after the Coakley incident—which occurred a few months after another campaign called the cops on me for asking questions (persistently but politely!) and then lied about my behavior—was that the Coakley campaign would spin the story, and some people wouldn’t believe me. It was quite a relief that there was videotape to confirm the accuracy of my reporting. So I can only imagine that what Jacobs is feeling right now is a sense of relief: Whatever physical injuries he sustained would’ve been nothing compared to damage done to his reputation if he hadn’t been lucky enough to have an audiotape and eyewitnesses to confirm the truth of his reporting.
