There was a weird, Stillson-y moment last night as the leading candidate in the most expensive campaign in Montana history was cited by police for assaulting a newspaper reporter.
According to Fox News (!) reporter Alicia Acuna, who was in the room covering Republican congressional candidate Greg Gianforte, Gianforte “grabbed [newspaper reporter Ben] Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him.” Acuna said she “watched in disbelief” as Gianforte then began punching the reporter.
Jacobs said Gianforte broke Jacobs’ eyeglasses and injured Jacob’s elbow. Jacobs, examined at a local hospital, says he now has to type his dispatches to Britain’s Guardian newspaper with one hand.
Gianforte apparently grew enraged because Jacobs was holding his smartphone’s microphone six to eight inches from Gianforte’s face.
Police cited Gianforte with misdemeanor assault.
“It's unfortunate that this aggressive behavior from a liberal journalist created this scene at our campaign volunteer BBQ," read a statement from the Gianforte campaign.
Unamused at a candidate who pummels newspaper reporters, three Montana newspapers which endorsed Gianforte – The Billings Gazette, The Missoulian and Helena’s Independent Record – all withdrew their endorsements subsequent to the assault.
Even before the assault, the Montana race was watched closely because many perceive it as a possible referendum on the 4-month-old Donald Trump presidency. Trump, who beat Hilary Clinton in Montana by 21 points in November, described Gianforte before the assault as “a good guy.”
Trump has not yet withdrawn his endorsement of Gianforte.
Today is election day in Montana.
Premiering tonight:
Beat Shazam (Fox) May 25
Cyrus Vs. Cyrus (Bravo) May 25
Love Connection (Fox) May 25
Million Dollar Listing (Bravo) May 25
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow continued to dominate news channel programming last Thursday. While Maddow hit a 0.4, Fox News' Sean Hannity and Tucker Carlson were stuck at 0.2:
Thursdays, April 6-May 18, 2017
(18-49 finals; repeats in grey; prior weeks in parentheses)
0.4 (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) Rachel Maddow (MSNBC)
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (---) (---) (0.3) (0.8) CNN Tonight (CNN)
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) Erin Burnett (CNN)
0.3 (---) (0.2) (---) (---) (0.3) (---) Jake Tapper (CNN)
0.3 (0.4) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (---) Lawrence O’Donnell (MSNBC)
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (---) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) Situation Room (CNN)
0.2 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (0.4) Brian Williams (MSNBC)
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (0.2) (0.3) CNN Newsroom (CNN)
0.2 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) The Five (FNC)
0.2 (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (---) Fox & Friends (FNC)
0.2 (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.7) Hannity (FNC)
0.2 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Hardball (MSNBC)
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Inside Politics (CNN)
0.2 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) Tucker Carlson (FNC)
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (0.2) (---) Wolf (CNN)
With “Big Bang Theory ” done for the season, 13-year-old “Grey’s Anatomy” was top show last Thursday:
Thursdays, April 6-May 18, 2017
(18-49 finals; repeats in grey; prior weeks in parentheses)
2.0 (1.8) (1.8) (1.8) (---) (1.8) (1.7) Grey’s Anatomy
1.4 (2.7) (2.5) (2.6) (1.3) (2.5) (2.7) Big Bang Theory
1.2 (1.4) (1.3) (1.4) (1.3) (1.3) (1.2) Scandal
1.0 (---) (---) (1.2) (1.0) (1.2) (1.4) Great Indoors
1.0 (0.9) (1.0) (0.8) (1.0) (0.9) (0.9) MasterChef Junior
0.9 (0.9) (0.9) (0.7) (0.9) (0.8) (0.9) Amazing Race
0.9 (0.8) (0.8) (0.8) (0.8) (---) (---) The Blacklist
0.7 (0.6) (0.5) (0.6) (0.6) (0.5) (0.6) Jimmy Fallon
0.6 (0.5) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) Jimmy Kimmel
0.6 (0.5) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Law & Order SVU
0.6 (0.5) (0.5) (0.5) (0.2) (0.5) (0.5) Supernatural
0.5 (---) (0.3) (0.6) (0.3) (0.3) (---) NHL Hockey
0.5 (0.5) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) (0.4) Stephen Colbert
0.5 (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) (0.4) (0.5) Swamp People
0.4 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) Nightline
0.4 (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) Rachel Maddow
0.4 (---) (---) (0.2) (---) (0.2) (---) Soccer
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (---) (0.2) (0.3) (1.0) AC360
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (---) (0.2) (0.4) (0.2) Beat Bobby Flay
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) Braxton Values
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (---) (---) (0.3) (0.8) CNN Tonight
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (---) The Daily Show
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) Erin Burnett
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) Evil Stepmothers
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) Fear Thy Neighbor
0.3 (---) (---) (0.2) (0.2) (---) (0.2) First Take
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (0.4) Flip or Flop Vegas
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) House Hunters
0.3 (---) (0.2) (---) (---) (0.3) (---) Jake Tapper
0.3 (0.4) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (---) Lawrence O’Donnell
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) (---) (---) Lip Sync Battle
0.3 (---) (---) (---) (---) (0.4) (---) Loud House
0.3 (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) (---) Married/1st Sight
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (---) Pardon/Interruption
0.3 (0.4) (0.3) (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) Seth Meyers
0.3 (0.3) (0.2) (---) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) Situation Room
0.3 (0.4) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) 60 Days In
0.2 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (0.4) Brian Williams
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (0.2) (0.3) CNN Newsroom
0.2 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) The Five
0.2 (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (0.2) (---) Fox & Friends
0.2 (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.7) Hannity
0.2 (0.3) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Hardball
0.2 (---) (0.2) (0.2) (0.4) (0.3) (0.4) Inside Jokes
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Inside Politics
0.2 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) (0.2) James Corden
0.2 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) MLBaseball
0.2 (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) (---) Ninjago
0.2 (---) (---) (0.2) (---) (---) (---) OTL
0.2 (0.9) (0.9) (0.6) (0.2) (0.2) (0.3) SportsCenter
0.2 (0.3) (0.3) (0.2) (0.3) (0.3) (0.4) Tucker Carlson
0.2 (0.2) (---) (---) (---) (0.2) (---) Wolf
