For much of this week, the starkest evidence of how the Republican Party has been poisoned by Donald Trump’s hostile takeover was the deafening silence regarding House Appropriations Committee chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen’s deliberate targeting of an activist in his district. Well, the last 24 hours have provided an even starker example.
In case you missed it, The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs tried to get Greg Gianforte, the Republican candidate in the special election for Montana’s sole House seat, to talk about Trumpcare. Gianforte responded in the worst possible way–by grabbing Jacobs and bodyslamming him to the ground. The whole thing was captured in real time on Jacobs’ tape recorder. Listen here.
Gianforte tried to claim that Jacobs was the aggressor. However, crews from both BuzzFeed and Fox News both witnessed the incident, and both say Gianforte was the one who attacked Jacobs. The local sheriff believes Jacobs; he charged Gianforte with misdemeanor assault. So do three of Montana’s largest newspapers–the Billings Gazette, the Missoulian, and the (Helena) Independent Journal. All three papers initially endorsed Gianforte, but loudly retracted those endorsements and condemned Gianforte’s criminal behavior.
But believe it or not, there are actually some Republicans who are actually okay with Gianforte’s outrageous behavior. Salon and People for the American Way’s Right Wing Watch got samples of some of them.
To his credit, House Speaker Paul Ryan condemned Gianforte’s attack on Jacobs and called for him to apologize. But Congressman Duncan D. Hunter of California didn’t get the memo. When The Associated Press’ Mary Claire Jalonick asked Hunter what he thought about Gianforte’s actions, Hunter’s response was jaw-dropping.
Rep. Duncan Hunter said of MT reporter assault, “It’s not appropriate behavior. Unless the reporter deserved it.”
— Mary Clare Jalonick (@MCJalonick) May 25, 2017
Um, Duncan? How does a reporter deserve to be bodyslammed?
Bradd Jaffy of NBC News asked several lawmakers for their thoughts. The most disturbing anecdotes came from Louie Gohmert of Texas and Trent Franks of Arizona.
Louie Gohmert: “We didn't have a course on bodyslamming…”
Trent Franks: “The left has precipitated this tense, confrontational approach…” pic.twitter.com/eYdttV3397
— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) May 25, 2017
Gohmert joked that he missed any “course on bodyslamming” that was offered during his time. Franks said–with a straight face–that the left was responsible for the recent “tense, confrontational approach” in politics. While he tried to unring the bell by saying that he opposed “any kind of thing where we use physical violence,” the mere fact that he even thought about blaming liberals says a lot about him.
Gohmert wasn’t the only one who thought this was a laughing matter. So did Mark Sanford of South Carolina, per BuzzFeed’s Lissandra Villa.
Asked Rep. Sanford what kind of greeting House R's would give Gianforte if he won: "I think people would be careful not to make him mad."
— Lissandra Villa (@LissandraVilla) May 25, 2017
Some conservative commentators also saw fit to either applaud Gianforte or slam Jacobs. The Media Research Center’s L. Brent Bozell, for instance, seemed to echo Franks’ sentiments from earlier.
Jacobs is an obnoxious, dishonest first class jerk. I'm not surprised he got smacked.
— Brent Bozell (@BrentBozell) May 25, 2017
Laura Ingraham all but called Jacobs a wimp.
Politicians always need to keep their cool. But what would most Montana men do if "body slammed" for no reason by another man?
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 25, 2017
Did anyone get his lunch money stolen today and then run to tell the recess monitor?
— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) May 25, 2017
As did Dinesh D’Souza.
Coming one day before the Montana election this #BenJacobs crybaby routine sounds suspiciously like a scam to influence the outcome pic.twitter.com/vyokKuEMm5
— Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) May 25, 2017
Some right-wingers actually thought Jacobs staged the whole thing in hopes of throwing the election to Democrat Rob Quist. Among them was The Daily Caller’s Derek Hunter.
What kind of a wuss files charges over broken glasses? Someone who wants to influence an outcome, that's who. #JournalismIsDead
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) May 25, 2017
So did American Family Radio morning host Sandy Rios.
Reporter sounds pretty chipper for someone who was "body slammed." Did he hope to cause an incident?https://t.co/hGmYZEcZRj
— Sandy Rios (@SandyRiosTweet) May 25, 2017
But easily the most tone-deaf reaction of all comes from the social media team at the Montana Republican Party. Just hours after Gianforte attacked Jacobs, this appeared on the party’s official Twitter feed.
Tomorrow is Election Day! Do you know where your voting location is? Click here to check: https://t.co/lAwY0Sqaac #mtpol pic.twitter.com/y0LNxbRnIn
— MT Republican Party (@MTGOP) May 24, 2017
So the Montana GOP considers an unprovoked attack on a reporters to be an example of “Montana values” now? Got it.
I’d spent most of the last week wondering how it was even remotely possible that there wasn’t an outcry against Frelinghuysen for thinking that using the power of his office to deliberately target a constituent was acceptable. Well, now I have part of my answer. Anyone who can even think about applauding an unprovoked assault on a reporter can hardly be expected to condemn a willful assault on one of the most sacred trusts in our democracy. If this is making America great again, we’re definitely in trouble.
(featured image courtesy Gianforte’s Facebook)