The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) called on Republican candidate Greg Gianforte to resign from the Montana special House election race late Wednesday after a reporter said he was “body slammed” by him.
“Greg Gianforte must immediately withdraw his candidacy after his alleged violent assault of an innocent journalist,” spokesman Tyler Law said in a statement.
“Further, Speaker [Paul] Ryan [R-Wis.] and the National Republican Campaign Committee should not waste another minute before publicly denouncing their candidate and apologizing for the millions of dollars they spent on his behalf.”
{mosads}Ben Jacobs, a journalist from The Guardian, wrote on Twitter that Gianforte body slammed him at a campaign event.
Gianforte’s campaign in a statement doubled down on the interaction, calling Jacobs “a liberal journalist” who exhibited “aggressive behavior.”
“Tonight, as Greg was giving a separate interview in a private office, The Guardian’s Ben Jacobs entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions,” spokesman Shane Scanlon said.
The audio, however, appears to contradict the campaign statement.
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The newspaper uploaded audio from the event, in which Jacobs can be heard asking Gianforte about the Congressional Budget Office score of the House healthcare legislation.
The Montana special election for the state’s lone house seat, which was vacated by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke, is on Thursday.