Montana House Candidate Charged with Assaulting Reporter

Click on the 'Listen' button above to hear this segment.

In what was already shaping up to be a unique and possibly historic special congressional election, the race to represent Montana in the House of Representatives made international news late Thursday night after Republican candidate Greg Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault for allegedly "body slamming" Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.

Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses

— Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017

The incident occurred at a campaign event for Gianforte in Bozeman, Montana. Jacobs reportedly approached Gianforte to ask him a question about the recently released Congressional Budget Office score for the GOP's pending American Health Care Act. Audio released from The Guardian shows that Gianforte declined to answer the question. When Jacobs asked again, a loud scuffle and thud can be heard, with Gianforte shouting "I'm sick and tired of you guys! The last guy who came in here you did the same thing. Get the hell out of here!"

In the tape, Gianforte asks Jacobs if he's "with The Guardian." Jacobs can be heard saying "Yes, and you just broke my glasses ... you just body slammed me and broke my glasses." 

The Helena Independent Record, the Missoulian, and the Billings Gazette, rescinded their endorsements of Gianforte, a tech billionaire who lost in the 2016 gubernatorial race to Democrat incumbent Steve Bullock. 

Fox News reporters who were in the room preparing for an interview with Gianforte released a statement corroborating Jacobs's allegations:

This is the eyewitness account from a Fox News crew that was in the room when Gianforte attacked @Bencjacobshttps://t.co/l9SFbyFQOJ pic.twitter.com/fTuIiylJvW

— Brian Fallon (@brianefallon) May 25, 2017

Shortly after the incident, Gianforte's team released a statement saying that "this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."

Gianforte's statement: pic.twitter.com/WVNdA1yZ8w

— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) May 25, 2017

Gianforte left the event quickly without speaking to reporters.

While traveling through Montana last week to cover the election, Takeaway Washington Correspondent Todd Zwillich interviewed long time Montana political analyst and reporter Sally Mauk.

Sally Mauk, Senior Political Correspondent for Montana Public Radio, being interviewed by Todd Zwillich in Missoula, Montana

(Mara Silvers)

Mauk has covered the election and statewide politics extensively for her weekly show "Capitol Talk" on Montana Public Radio. For that show, she's interviewed both Mr. Gianforte and Democratic candidate Rob Quist. 

When asked her impression of Gianforte during their interview, Mauk replied that he was "thin-skinned" and reticent to answer questions directly.

"Surprising" that someone who's already run a statewide campaign chafes at reporters questions, Mauk told me last week. https://t.co/cVjNazuNrK

— Todd Zwillich (@toddzwillich) May 25, 2017

Today is the official election day for the special congressional race, although early voting has been in effect for weeks. Thousands of Montanans have already cast their mail-in and absentee ballots. In the week leading up to the election, the polls showed Gianforte maintaining a slim lead over Rob Quist with a large margin for error. 

Eric Whitney, news director for Montana Public Radio, explains how the charges facing Gianforte could shape the election.

UPDATE 05/26/17: Greg Gianforte defeated Rob Quist on Thursday to become the newest member of the U.S. House of Representatives. 

This segment is hosted by Todd Zwillich.