Republican candidate Greg Gianforte body slams a reporter

Scanlon later issued a statement saying that Jacobs "entered the [campaign] office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg's face, and began asking badgering questions."

Later, the statement added, "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. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."

Other reporters present who saw the incident are refuting Gianforte's version.

The Republican candidate in a special congressional election in Montana, Greg Gianforte, has been charged with a misdemeanour for assaulting a British reporter.

Guardian journalist Ben Jacobs tweeted that Mr Gianforte had "body slammed" him, breaking his glasses.

The front runner's campaign said that Mr Jacobs had initiated the incident by grabbing Mr Gianforte's wrist.

But other journalists said they saw the reporter show no physical aggression.

'Grabbed by the neck'

The Guardian released an audio recording of the clash, in which crashing sounds can be heard after Mr Jacobs asks the candidate for a response to a question, after being told to speak to one of his colleagues.

Mr Gianforte then shouts "I'm sick and tired of you guys" and tells the reporter to "get the hell out of here".


The incident took place on Wednesday, the eve of a special election to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives.

Alicia Acuna of Fox News was in the room with two colleagues preparing for a television interview with Mr Gianforte at the time.

She said Mr Jacobs entered the room, put a voice recorder up to Mr Gianforte's face and asked about the Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act.

When Mr Jacobs persisted, "Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him", she wrote.

"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!", she added.

"At no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte," she said.

Mr Jacobs later told MSNBC he then went to a hospital to have his elbow X-rayed, because he landed on it during the incident.

“Gianforte grabbed [Jacobs] by the neck, slid him to the side, and body-slammed him, and then got on top of him and started punching,” she said.

Details from Acuna's report quickly went viral online, but she said Thursday during an interview on "The Laura Ingraham Show" that she misstated the neck grab.

"One of you guys said last night that he put his hands around his neck," Ingraham said. "Which, as somebody who's done a lot of taekwondo and self-defense, to me that seemed, that might not be exactly right."

"You know, and I'm the one who said that," Acuna replied, "I saw both his hands go up, not around his neck in a strangling type of way, but more just on each side of his neck, just grabbed him and I guess it could've been on his clothes, I don't know."

Ingraham asked Acuna if that meant she was changing her story.

"Again, just to clarify, he didn't grab him by the neck with both hands in the way that was initially described, that's not quite accurate," Ingraham asked at the end of the interview.

"​No, so it wasn't like he grabbed him around the neck, he had one hand on each side of his neck," Acuna confirmed.

The minute a Republican politician does anything nefarious your tongue shoots right up their arse.

That candyass Paul Ryan has said Gianforte should apologize.

For what!?

This Guardian perv should have been charged with criminal trespass for busting into Giaforte's private office without permission. Gianforte had every right to throw his ass out, using whatever force was required.

What do you think the secret service would do to a perv like that?

Who do you think would have criminal charges filed against him?

House Speaker Paul Ryan said Thursday that Greg Gianforte, the GOP House candidate charged with assaulting a reporter, should apologize but added that it is now up to voters in Montana to choose whether they want him as their representative in Congress.

"There's never a call for physical altercations," Ryan told reporters during his weekly press conference. "That is wrong and it should not have happened."

"I think he should apologize," Ryan added.

The incident occurred when a Fox News team was scheduled to interview Gianforte at his campaign headquarters. The team said Ben Jacobs, a reporter from The Guardian, pressed Gianforte about the newly released Congressional Budget Office report on the American Health Care Act.

Gianforte told Jacobs to talk to his press officer. At some point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground, according to witnesses.

The Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that there was probable cause to issue a citation, but the nature of the injuries “did not meet the statutory elements of a felony assault.”

If he’s found guilty, Gianforte faces a $500 fine and up to 6 months in jail.

Gianforte, a former software executive, had the slight edge over his Democratic challenger Rob Quist, a country music performer, to fill the vacant House seat leading up to Thursday’s election. The majority of voters were expected to have already cast their ballots by early voting so it is unclear how much Wednesday’s events will have on election results.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would launch as many Facebook ads as possible about the incident, targeting Montana Democratic voters who might not otherwise vote Thursday. The committee also said Gianforte must quit the race and the Republican Party should publicly denounce him.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee announced that it would launch as many Facebook ads as possible about the incident, targeting Montana Democratic voters who might not otherwise vote Thursday. The committee also said Gianforte must quit the race and the Republican Party should publicly denounce him.