Body Slammer Win in Montana Highlights Republican Embrace of Political Tribalism

May 27th, 2017

Awake Goy

Body Slammer Win in Montana Highlights Republican Embrace of Political Tribalism

Susanne Posel ,Chief Editor Occupy Corporatism | Host of Hardline Radio Show

Republican billionaire and body slammer Greg Gianforte won the special election in Montana despite early voters demanding that they be allowed to change their ballots.

An estimated 260,000, or 1/3rd of the early votes, were sent in before Gianforte attacked Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the Guardian newspaper. Jacobs was attacked for asking Gianforte about the American Health Care Act (AHCA) passed in the House weeks prior.

Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the throat with both hands and threw him to the ground, landing on his back and injuring his left arm. Jacobs had his injuries assessed at a local hospital and Gianforte was later charged with a misdemeanor assault.

After new coverage of the attack reached Montanans, several residents who had sent in early or absentee ballots contacted the Montana Secretary of State’s office asking to have their votes changed.

Corey Stapleton, secretary of state for Montana told the local press that “it’s too late to change already cast votes.”

Stapleton explained: “The answer in Montana is we vote only once…so technically no. For the very reason that teachers don’t hand out grades a month before class is over, or championships aren’t given a month before the season ends, there’s many reason you shouldn’t vote 30 days before the campaign is over because sometimes more information might change your mind.”

Almost 70 percent of votes — 276,203 ballots — were cast before Election Day in #MTAL, according to the Secretary of State’s office.

— Ryan Struyk (@ryanstruyk) May 26, 2017

Gianforte’s win in Montana, having to do in large part with early voting, is evidence that the Republican Party is falling into an acceptance of tribalism.

Quickly after Alicia Acuna, a reporter for Fox News, relayed her account of Gianforte’s attack, Trump supporter Laura Ingraham publicly questioned Acuna’s testimony, saying: “You can’t body-slam someone by holding both hands on the neck. That’s impossible…Didn’t he grab him near the neck and throw him down? Just asking.”

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

Rush Limbaugh chimed in calling Jacobs “a pajama boy journalist” who treated Gianforte with “insolence” disrespect and all around being “whiny and moany”.

Right-wing media outlets such as RealClearPolitics and Drudge Report tried to change the facts by lying about Acuna changing her story about what she saw Gianforte do to Jacobs.

Fox contributor: Ben Jacobs “was not doing a fair story” and “got a little bit of Montana justice” pic.twitter.com/LvW79GFMgF via @IceManNYR

— John Whitehouse (@existentialfish) May 25, 2017

Fringe right conspiracy theorist Mike Cernovich claimed that “although there is an audio recording of the incident, video was needed for the story to be reliable.” And the Gateway Pundit followed that line of thinking when they proclaimed that it was “strange” that there was not video to back up Jacobs’ recount of the attack.

For some republican voters in Montana, Jacobs did not get nearly enough roughing up as he deserved.

MT GOP voter, upon learning we’re from @CNN: “You’re lucky someone doesn’t pop one of you.”

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) May 25, 2017

MT GOP voter to me just now, knowing I work for @CNN: “That audio made me cheer.” She smiled as she walked in to vote for Gianforte.

— Kyung Lah (@KyungLahCNN) May 25, 2017

Journalists Robert Costa and Karent Tumulty rightly pointed out that “when Gianforte assaulted a reporter … many saw not an isolated outburst by an individual, but the obvious, violent result of Trump’s charge that journalists are ‘the enemy of the people.’ … Trump — and specifically, his character and his conduct — now thoroughly dominate the national political conversation. Traditional policy arguments over whether entitlement programs should be overhauled, or taxes cut, are regularly upstaged by a new burst of pyrotechnics. … Trump’s barrage of news-making and controversy drives the GOP even at its lowest levels, with his raucous populism and blustering behavior reshaping its identity. Candidates often are either adopting aspects of his persona or finding themselves having to fitfully explain why they back him despite them.”

Charlie Sykes, host of a conservative talk radio show out of Wisconsin warned: “Every time something like Montana happens, Republicans adjust their standards and put an emphasis on team loyalty. They normalize and accept previously unacceptable behavior.”

Repost in honor of alleged criminal Greg Gianforte’s election. If he were an immigrant he’d face deportation; now he sets immigration policy https://t.co/vN8QdEU04S

— Preet Bharara (@PreetBharara) May 26, 2017

It seems Republicans are acting on the assumption that it is ok to become violent with the news media. Three weeks ago Senator David Wilson was questioned by journalist Nathaniel Herz of the Alaska Dispatch News and because Wilson did not like the subject matter, he slapped Herz across the face .

Veteran reporter John Donnelly was pinned to a wall by security at the Federal Communications Commission for asking federal agency officials questions.

On May 9th, Dan Heyman, journalist for the Public News Service, was handcuffed and arrested for asking Tom Price, secretary of Health and Human Services, a question about the AHCA at West Virginia’s capital building.

Violence toward the media coming from Republicans is a new phenomeon, but one that can be attributed to the brutish way Donald Trump behaves.

For example, during his trip abroad, Trump was caught on camera shoving the Italian prime minister out of the way during a photo-op so that he could be at the front of the crowd while pictures were being taken.

You tiny, tiny, tiny little man.
pic.twitter.com/mP3mad6cMt

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) May 25, 2017

Today: the president espoused Russian views at NATO summit; his supporters at home minimized or even endorsed violent attacks on the press.

— David Frum (@davidfrum) May 25, 2017