Reprinted from robertreich.org
Last Wednesday, on the eve of his election to the House of Representatives, Montana Republican Greg Gianforte beat up Ben Jacobs, a reporter for the "Guardian" newspaper.
What prompted the violence? Jacobs had asked Gianforte for his reaction to the Congressional Budget Office's report showing that the House Republican substitute for the Affordable Care Act would result in 23 million Americans losing their health insurance.
Then, in the words of a Fox News team who witnessed the brutal attack: "Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. " 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!' Jacobs scrambled to his knees and said something about his glasses being broken". 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."
After the attack, Jacobs was evaluated in an ambulance at the scene and taken to Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital. Several hours later he left the hospital wearing a sling around his arm. Gianforte was charged with misdemeanor assault.
Donald Trump's reaction? In Sicily for the G-7 summit, he praised Greg Gianforte's election as a "great win in Montana."
For years, conservatives warned that liberals were "defining deviancy down" by tolerating bad social behavior.
Donald Trump is actively defining deviancy down in American politics. He's also making America meaner.
Last year, Trump said of a protester at one of his campaign rallies: "I'd like to punch him in the face." He added "in the old days, protesters would be carried out on stretchers."
In a different era, when decency was the norm, the members of the U.S. House of Representatives would not seat a thug like Gianforte in the chamber. In the age of Trump, it's okay to beat up a reporter.
Charlie Sykes, a conservative former talk-show host in Wisconsin,says"every time something like Montana happens, Republicans adjust their standards and put an emphasis on team loyalty. They normalize and accept previously unacceptable behavior."
Gianforte's attack on Jacobs was shameful enough. Almost as shameful was Gianforte's press release about what occurred, written immediately afterward by his campaign spokesman, Shane Scanlon:
"After asking Jacobs to lower the recorder, Jacobs declined. Greg then attempted to grab the phone that was pushed in his face. Jacobs grabbed Greg's wrist and spun away from Greg, pushing them both to the ground. It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ."
This was all a blatant lie, as confirmed by the Fox News crew that watched the whole thing. But under Trump, blatant lying is the new normal. And a "liberal journalist" is the enemy.
Kathleen Hall Jamieson, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg School for Communication,says that Donald Trump "has contributed to a climate of discourse consistent with assaulting a reporter for asking an inconvenient question."
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