“We’ll talk to you about that later,” responds Gianforte, who is in a special-election race against folk singer Rob Quist. Like a good reporter, Jacobs doesn’t buy that pledge and objects that there won’t be any time later. “Okay, speak with Shane, please,” says Gianforte, referring to his spokesman, Shane Scanlon.

Whether it’s a presidential, congressional, mayoral or city council race, this very interaction happens thousands of times around the United States every year. A campaign reporter’s core job is to hound the candidate, find little creases in their campaign schedules and sneak in a question. We see video of these moments all the time. Sometimes they produce responses that illuminate the candidate’s mentality; sometimes they add texture to a debate; most of the time they yield yet another recitation of a talking point that gets hauled out at every campaign stop.

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They rarely end in what is alleged to have happened yesterday in Bozeman.

“He took me to the ground,” Jacobs told Guardian reporters from an ambulance. “I think he wailed on me once or twice … He got on me and I think he hit me … This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics.” A Fox News crew happened to be on the scene, with correspondent Alicia Acuna later providing this account on FoxNews.com:

Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him. Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as 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. He asked [Fox News crew members] for our names. In shock, we did not answer. Jacobs then said he wanted the police called and went to leave. Gianforte looked at the three of us and repeatedly apologized. At that point, I told him and Scanlon, who was now present, that we needed a moment. The men then left.

A statement from Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin: “Following multiple interviews and an investigation by the Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office it was determined there was probable cause to issue a citation to Greg Gianforte for misdemeanor assault.”

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As they go about their business, the authorities will find quite a contrast between Acuna’s recollection and the version released by the Gianforte campaign, which said that Jacobs “entered the office without permission, aggressively shoved a recorder in Greg’s face, and began asking badgering questions. Jacobs was asked to leave. 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.”

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The audio released by the Guardian gives no quarter for that chain of events. Let the authorities hash that all out. Thanks to Tucker Carlson, we at the Erik Wemple Blog know better than to draw definitive conclusions about an incident before a criminal proceeding concludes.

Yet there’s one angle of this case that is beyond any dispute, and that’s the part in which Gianforte vents his anger at Jacobs. “I’m sick and tired of you guys. The last guy that came in here, you did the same thing … Get the hell out of here. Get the hell out of here. The last guy did the same thing. Are you with the Guardian?”

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“Yes, and you just broke my glasses,” responded Jacobs.

“The last guy did the same damn thing,” said Gianforte.

And just what is the “same damn thing”? The Erik Wemple Blog checked with the Guardian’s U.S. editor, Lee Glendinning, on this front and have yet to get a response. She issued this statement about the altercation: “The Guardian is deeply appalled by how our reporter, Ben Jacobs, was treated in the course of doing his job as a journalist while reporting on the Montana special election. We are committed to holding power to account and we stand by Ben Jacobs and our team of reporters for the questions they ask and the reporting that is produced.”

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From the looks of things, “the same damn thing” appears to boil down to asking questions of the candidate. Could this video report by the Guardian on the Montana race provide a clue? It features reporter Paul Lewis trudging around Montana, talking to voters and seeking out input from the candidates. On two occasions, Gianforte disses Lewis, telling him at one campaign event, “I’m here to talk to the folks.”

Make no mistake about it — that dodge is a bipartisan thing. Hillary Clinton, for example, was famous for ignoring reporters in favor of chats with voters.

At another event, Lewis again approaches Gianforte and receives this response: “We’re here to visit with our folks here.” Later the candidate relents, answering questions for one minute. Lewis fails to draw Gianforte into an extended discussion about his stance on President Trump. Gianforte bolts, leaving Lewis alone with his microphone. The cold shoulder from the campaign surprised the Guardian because its video team had been in contact with the campaign before making the trip to Montana, according to video producer Adithya Sambamurthy.

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Watch the video: Lewis goes about his work with a soft and deferential touch, at least from what can be gleaned from the footage. He comes off as the opposite of the hard-charging campaign reporter.

Polite and relevant questions: Are they what had made Gianforte so “sick and tired”? Are polite and relevant questions what he was bemoaning when he talked about “the same damn thing”? We’ve asked the Gianforte campaign for comment on this matter.

As the Missoulian noted in April, Gianforte took a question from a man at an event: “Our biggest enemy is the news media … How can we rein in the news media?” The man pointed out a reporter and raised his hands in a neck-wringing motion. Gianforte took the bait, responding, “We have someone right here. It seems like there is more of us than there is of him.”

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