title:  Trump-Backed Republican Candidate Bodyslams Journalist Night Before Election
text: The Montana Republican running for a congressional seat against a formidable Democratic opponent in a crucial special election just bodyslammed a journalist. In front of a bunch of other journalists. And a bunch of stunned bystanders. And a crowd of his own campaign volunteers and aides. The incident was so violent that the police were called.Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs says he was slammed to the ground by Republican Greg Gianforte so hard that the impact broke his glasses.Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses  Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017A Buzzfeed reporter who was there at the time described what she saw.This happened behind a half closed door, so I didn t see it all, but here s what it looked like from the outside   Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017Ben walked into a room where a local tv crew was set up for an interview with Gianforte  Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017All of a sudden I heard a giant crash and saw Ben s feet fly in the air as he hit the floor  Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017Heard very angry yelling (as did all the volunteers in the room)   sounded like Gianforte  Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017Ben walked out holding his broken glasses in his hand and said  he just bodyslammed me  Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017The assault was also apparently caught on tape. Jacobs says a local news crew has the audio.There was a local TV crew there when Gianforte body slammed me. Audio is posting soon at @GuardianUS  Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017Alexis Levinson also snapped a picture of cops and EMTs arriving on scene.This is the scene outside   pic.twitter.com/xAin0jkhFo  Alexis Levinson (@alexis_levinson) May 24, 2017Gianforte reportedly fled the scene, leaving in a car  full of his aides and bailing on the event. It s unclear if Gianforte will be charged with the assault, but attacking a reporter literally a day before an election is unprecedented. The local sheriffs department was seen taking witness statements.It s not clear what caused the assault, but Ben Jacobs had recently caught Gianforte secretly investing $250,000 in several US-sanctioned Russian companies. It seems likely that the two things are linked.This assault happens less than 24 hours before polls open in Montana. The seat is meant to replace former GOP Rep. Ryan Zinke who Trump picked to run the Department of the Interior. Trump selected Zinke in part because Republicans believed that no Democrat could win the deep-red Montana seat   then Trump got into office, destroyed his credibility and that of the Republican Party and now the Democratic challenger Rob Quist has a real chance of winning.Naturally, the Trump family is linked to Gianforte. Add this to the numerous scandals and bad characters they ve attached themselves too. Trump s son, Don Jr. showed up at several Gianforte rally to help try to secure the seat for Republicans. The two have become close, spending quality time together during a recent a gopher hunting vacation. Seriously.And the audio just dropped. It s really, really bad.Here's the audio of Gianforte from The Guardian: https://t.co/kj0110kZvH pic.twitter.com/BJVqcd6baq  Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) May 25, 2017Featured image via Justin Sullivan/Getty Images