And Backus wrote that toward the end of the candidate’s talk, a man in the audience said to Gianforte, “Our biggest enemy is the news media” and asked, “How can we rein in the news media?” The man followed up his question by turning to Backus, who was sitting next to him, and “raised his hands as if he would like to wring his neck.”

Gianforte smiled, pointed at the reporter and said this: “We have someone right here. It seems like there is more of us than there is of him. I don’t have a simple solution for you. I will say that doing town hall meetings and getting out and visiting with people is very important.”

This “joke” made at the reporter’s expense wasn’t funny at all. In fact, on its face, the statement demonstrated Gianforte’s agreement that news media are “the enemy.”

To be clear, the reporter never felt as though he were in danger of physical harm. But it should concern every Montanan when a candidate for Congress singles out any individual in a crowded room to point out that he is outnumbered.