President Donald Trump on Thursday praised a US congressman from Montana who body-slammed a reporter during a campaign for a special election in 2017.
Trump referred to the media as the enemy of the American people and regularly derides journalists as “fake news.” He made his latest remarks during a campaign rally in Montana.
“Any guy that can do a body-slam … is my guy,” Trump told supporters at the rally, adding that he was concerned at first that the incident would jeopardize Gianforte’s campaign.
“I said: ‘Oh, this is terrible, he’s going to lose the election.’ Then I said: ‘Well, wait a minute, I know Montana pretty well, I think it might help him,’ and it did,” Trump said.
Gianforte, who won the election, pleaded guilty to assaulting a reporter.
Donald Trump is on a three-state tour in the western part of the United States. He is advocating for Republican candidates who are running for elections in November with the hope of keeping control of the US Senate and House of Representatives in Republican hands.
Reuters