IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
“Greg Gianforte’s near-pathological inability to take responsibility for his actions on the eve of his election – the false press release distributed from his campaign blaming Ben Jacobs, working the legal system to avoid a mug shot or finger printing, and now his refusal to condemn Donald Trump’s violent antics – borders on the absurd,” said Drew Godinich, DCCC spokesperson. “If Greg Gianforte still can’t recognize that promoting violence against reporters is wrong, then he certainly has no business representing Montana in Congress. He should resign.”
Greg Gianforte: Trump’s CNN ‘body-slam’ tweet just a ‘distraction’
The Guardian | Amanda Holpuch
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/jul/06/greg-gianforte-trump-cnn-tweet
The Montana congressman Greg Gianforte, who pleaded guilty to the assault of a Guardian reporter, has said Donald Trump’s tweet of himself body-slamming a CNN proxy was only a “distraction” from “good work” being done by the president.
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During a brief interview on Wednesday, the Montana Public Radio (MPR) reporter Eric Whitney asked Gianforte about Trump’s tweet three times. Each time the congressman responded by saying the tweet was a “distraction”.
“Would I have sent this tweet? I’m not sure,” Gianforte said. “But the reality is, the administration is doing good work. I would probably categorize this particular tweet as a distraction.”
Whitney then suggested that “some people interpreted the tweet as promoting violence against reporters” and asked: “Did you interpret it that way?”
Gianforte said: “I would just say, I think the focus ought to be on the business of the people. And I would characterize – because we’re even talking about this, and not talking about some of the meatier issues and what the American people and Montanans want us to talk about, I would characterize it as a distraction.”
At the end of the interview, asked about his response to the Trump tweet when he first heard about it, he said: “I believe the tweet is a distraction from these major issues that we need to work on, things like tax reform and affordable healthcare.”
Four days after he was convicted in the assault of a reporter, Gianforte called for more civility in politics. In the MPR interview, he said: “That comment was made in context of the shooting that occurred in Washington DC, and for an armed gunman to plot to go and shoot members of Congress, I don’t think is civil. That was the context of that comment.”
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