Members of a Fox News television crew witnessed the encounter,
and in a firsthand account posted on the network’s website, one of the Fox journalists described Mr. Gianforte as “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!’ ” according to the Fox News account.
Montana Republican Greg Gianforte, Charged With Assault, Awaits Fate in Vote -
By JONATHAN MARTINMAY 24, 2017
— The Republican candidate in a hotly contested special House election in Montana was charged with assaulting
a journalist on Wednesday at what was to be a final rally in Bozeman on the eve of the vote.
Should that happen, Mr. Ryan said, then “he has been chosen by the people of Montana.”
Representative Steve Stivers of Ohio, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, released a gentler statement on Mr. Gianforte’s apparent eruption, describing it as “totally out of character” and conceding
that “we all make mistakes.” But the Montana election, Mr. Stivers said, “is bigger than any one person.”
A big part of a public servant’s job is teaching civics.
In a sign of the considerable Republican frustration with Mr. Gianforte, Speaker
Paul D. Ryan publicly scolded the candidate and said he should apologize.