© Reuters / Jonathan ErnstPresident Trump speaks at a rally in Missoula, Montana
Gianforte was convicted of assault after he grabbed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs by the neck and body-slammed him to the ground at a campaign event on the eve of Montana's special election in 2017. The slam broke Jacobs' glasses and Gianforte punched the winded reporter on the ground.
Gianforte later apologized to Jacobs, donated $50,000 to the Committee To Protect Journalists, paid a fine and served 40 hours of community service. He went on to beat his Democratic challenger - country musician Rob Quist - and now represents Montana in the House of Representatives.
Speaking to supporters at a campaign-style rally in Missoula, Montana, on Thursday, Trump praised Gianforte's wrestling skills, drawing cheers and laughs from the crowd.
"By the way, never wrestle him," Trump said. "Any guy that can do a body-slam, he's my kind of guy. He's my guy."
Trump recalled hearing about the incident while he was in Rome, and Gianforte was pulling ahead in the polls. "And I said, oh, this is terrible. He's going to lose the election," Trump recalled. "And then I said, well, wait a minute. I know Montana pretty well. I think it might help him. And it did."
The fighting talk continued later in the rally, when Trump brought up former Vice President Joe Biden's comment that he would "beat the hell out of" Trump, were the two in high school together. "He'd be down, faster than Greg would take him down," Trump said.
Naturally, the Guardian wasn't pleased with Trump's words, with the newspaper's US editor saying Trump's remarks run "the risk of inviting other assaults on journalists both here and across the world." CNN's Jim Acosta, a relentless Trump opponent, was disturbed, and found the crowd's enthusiasm highly triggering.
Acosta clearly had a bad night, telling a former White House official to "f*ck off" later on, after some mild trolling on Twitter. Other media types reacted similarly negatively:
As well as a skilled wrestler of reporters, Gianforte is a wealthy software entrepreneur, and has made an estimated $315 million from the sale of two of his tech companies. He is a staunch conservative, and a passionate creationist, who once donated $290,000 to the Glendive Dinosaur & Fossil Museum, which teaches that the world is around 5,000 years old, and dinosaurs and humans once lived side by side.
Gianforte is currently polling nine points ahead of Democratic challenger Kathleen Williams, in a state that has voted Republican in every presidential election since 1996, and elected Trump by a 20 point margin in 2016.
Trump had barely taken off from Montana on Thursday, before Williams' campaign team released a video featuring audio recording of Gianforte's attack on Jacobs. Accusing him of "assault and lies,"Williams' video states "this is not who we are" as Montanans.
Voters in the Big Sky State will decide that for themselves on November 6.
Reader Comments
The left has started this ... we will finish it.... Keep your guns loaded and close by.