House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi on Thursday labeled Greg Gianforte, the GOP nominee for the Montana at-large congressional seat, as a “wannabe Trump” after he body slammed a reporter Wednesday night.
“I viewed that as a mom and a grandmother,” Pelosi said. “We try to have some level of dignity as to how we treat people and who we are … To see this person, who wants to be the one representative into the House of Representatives from Montana be sort of a wannabe Trump. You know, use language like that, treat people harshly like that — that’s his model. Donald Trump’s his model.”
“We’ve really got to say, ‘Come on. Behave.” Pelosi said. “Behave. That was outrageous.”
Pelosi also said that whether Republicans should let Gianforte into their caucus is a decision for them to make.
Her response came a day after Gianforte body slammed Ben Jacobs, a political reporter at the Guardian, and was charged with misdemeanor assault one day before the election to replace Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke.
On Thursday, Gianforte pulled out of a scheduled interview on Meet The Press and saw three major newspapers pull their endorsement ahead of the election.
Gianforte is running against Democrat Rob Quist to become Montana’s lone House representative.
