Even Fox News Is Supporting the Journalist Body Slammed by a Congressional Candidate

When Montana GOP congressional candidate Greg Gianforte allegedly body slammed Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, a surprising advocate emerged in support of Jacobs: Fox News. Contradicting Gianforte's version of the May 24 incident, three journalists from Fox corroborated both Jacobs's description of the assault and the audio recording of it. Fox News's account might even be worse than Jacobs's description.

Alicia Acuna, a Fox News reporter who witnessed Gianforte attack Jacobs, recounted what she saw and emphasized that it was totally unwarranted. After Jacobs entered the room where Acuna's team was preparing to interview Gianforte, the New Jersey born billionaire grew agitated after Jacobs pressed him on the Congressional Budget Office's score of the American Health Care Act.

"At that point, Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him," Acuna 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!'"

Audio of the episode supports Acuna's account, and she said the crew were "cooperating" as witnesses with the local police. "To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff's deputies," Acuna explained.

Gianforte was charged with a misdemeanor assault, but will still face Democratic challenger Rob Quist in a special election on May 25 (a day after the incident). It's unclear if or how the assault will affect Gianforte's bid; however, he's lost a majority of his endorsements. Republican House Majority leader Paul Ryan called on Gianforte to apologize and three of Montana's major newspapers pulled their endorsements of the candidate.