‘Guardian’ Editor Slams Trump For Praising Greg Gianforte’s Assault On His Reporter

‘Guardian’ Editor Slams Trump For Praising Greg Gianforte’s Assault On His Reporter

After President Donald Trump applauded a congressman for body slamming a reporter last year, the editor from the journalist’s outlet delivered a scathing statement calling for the president to apologize while invoking the murder of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi.

During Thursday’s campaign rally in Montana, Trump riffed on Rep. Greg Gianforte’s assault of Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs in May 2017. The president told the crowd how he was worried at the time that Gianforte may lose the special election over the altercation but realized that he knew Montana well and “it might help him.”

“And it did,” he added.

Despite the fact that Gianforte eventually pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault, Trump praised the Montana lawmaker for attacking Jacobs. “Any guy that can do a body slam — he’s my kind of guy,” the president said while miming a bodyslam.

Shortly after the rally, Guardian US editor John Mulholland released a statement condemning the leader of the free world for celebrating an assault of a reporter.

“The President of the United States tonight applauded the assault on an American journalist who works for the Guardian,” Mulholland wrote. “To celebrate the attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it.”

The editor pointed out that in the aftermath of Khashoggi’s murder, the president’s actions “run the risk” of placing more journalists at risk of danger. “We hope decent people will denounce these comments and that the President will see fit to apologize for them,” he concluded.

Perhaps we’re cynics, but we doubt the man who has repeatedly labeled the free press the “enemy of the people” is going to change course after receiving some stern words from a journalist. But good for Mulholland to stand up for his reporter, which is what any good editor would do.

Justin Baragona

Justin Baragona is the founder/publisher of Contemptor and a contributor to The Daily Beast. He was previously the Cable News Correspondent for Mediaite and prior to starting Contemptor, he worked on the editorial staff of PoliticusUSA. During that time, he had his work quoted by USA Today and BBC News, among others. Justin began his published career as a political writer for 411Mania. He resides in St. Louis, MO with his wife and pets.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *