Donald Trump was being “playful” when he praised a Montana congressman who assaulted a Guardian reporter, said a Republican senator whose new book sets out to “heal” America’s glaring political divide.

'He's my guy': Donald Trump praises Gianforte for assault on Guardian reporter Read more

In Missoula, Montana on Thursday, Trump discussed Greg Gianforte’s attack on Ben Jacobs, which happened in May 2017 when Jacobs asked the then candidate a question about healthcare. To laughter, the president mimed a “body slam” and said Gianforte was “my guy”. The attack broke Jacobs’ glasses and injured his elbow.

On Sunday, Ben Sasse of Nebraska appeared on CNN’s State of the Union.

“I got to admit I don’t follow the rallies,” said Sasse, a conservative critic of Trump with rumoured White House ambitions who nonetheless usually votes with the president.

“But I think the first amendment is the beating heart of the American experiment. So we need to have a president who celebrates the first amendment and not pretends that beating up a reporter is OK.

“But I think what you hear from a lot of Nebraskans who also tune out the rallies, is there’s sort of a short-term, long-term thing going on and people feel like the president’s rhetoric is short-term playful. They don’t think it’s OK but I think people kind of tune most of it out.”

Sign up for the new US morning briefing

In a week dominated by the death of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi at the hands of the Saudi regime, Sasse was promoting his new book, Them: Why We Hate Each Other – and How to Heal. In response to host Jake Tapper’s suggestion that “it’s not playful to joke about assault”, he said: “No. The guy was convicted of a crime.”

Gianforte pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to four days in jail as a misdemeanor, changed to 40 hours of community service, a fine and a compulsory anger-management course. He wrote a letter of apology to Jacobs, as part of a civil settlement under which he also gave $50,000 to the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Gianforte has, however, consistently tried to avoid the subject. In the immediate aftermath of the assault, his campaign lied about it to police, casting Jacobs as the aggressor. Gianforte has never explained this conduct and did not admit to full responsibility for the attack until a civil settlement was reached. He also reneged on a courtroom promise of an interview with Jacobs.

On Sunday the Missoulian newspaper said Gianforte told it his police statement accurately reflected his “recollection of what occurred” and said he had taken full responsibility. The paper countered that he had not and endorsed his midterms opponent, the Democrat Kathleen Williams.

'This needs to stop': Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs' statement to court Read more

In the police statement, Gianforte said the “liberal media” was “trying to make a story”.

Also on Sunday, Gianforte told the Billings Gazette he had “taken full responsibility” for the assault.

“I’m not perfect,” he said. “I’ll be the first one to say that. It’s been covered extensively and I’ve moved on, and honestly, Ben Jacobs said he wanted to move on, too.”

In 2017, when it became clear Gianforte would not fulfill his promise of an interview, which was made before his sentencing, Jacobs said in a statement: “I forgave Congressman Gianforte for his unprovoked attack and his slanderous statement afterwards in hope that this behavior was an aberration. Instead, I have become increasing convinced that those actions were a display of his true character.

“In refusing to do the promised on-the-record interview with me, Congressman Gianforte continues his pattern of avoiding responsibility for his actions and refusing to live up to the statements made in what I thought was a sincere apology.”

Speaking to CNN on Friday, Jacobs said he experienced “shock and dismay” when Trump praised his attacker, which left him wondering “how you call up and tell your family that the president is mocking you when you’ve been a victim of a crime”.

Them review: Ben Sasse on Trump, America and how he's the man to fix it Read more

On Sunday, Sasse persisted in eulogising first amendment rights and insisted it was “not OK” for a president in charge of “stewarding” them to act as Trump did.

But he said: “But I do think it’s sort of baked into the president’s stock price, sort of this amoralistic take he has on it, it’s just what people think the president’s going to do and most people where I live sort of ignore most of it.

“Some think it’s funny, some are really anxious about it but most think, ‘Well, that’s just how the president talks.’ We need to do better than that but I also think there’s a danger in pretending each new rally is immediately urgent. I wish he did it differently, obviously.”

Trumps remarks attracted international criticism. In a statement, Guardian editor-in-chief Katharine Viner decried what she said were “incredibly irresponsible comments, which fly in the face of press freedom and send a dangerous message to autocrats and dictators around the world”.

She added: “The world’s press would welcome a clear statement from the US government that it remains committed to the rights of journalists everywhere to do their work without fear of violence or repression.”﻿