Media Sleuths ID Suspect in Alleged Montana Assault — Trump

The crime detectives in the media peered through their magnifying glasses at the alleged assault by a Republican candidate for Congress in Montana and spotted a new suspect — President Donald Trump.

Republican Greg Gianforte, who had been the frontrunner to win a special election to Montana’s lone seat in the House of Representatives, threw the race into turmoil on the eve of the election Wednesday night after a confrontation with Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.

“Trump is in Europe, this happened in Montana … He had nothing to do with this.”

The local sheriff’s office charged Gianforte with misdemeanor assault. Three newspapers in the state rescinded their endorsements of the GOP candidate. Although the impact will not be clear until the votes are counted Thursday night, pundits wasted no time blaming Trump’s anti-media rhetoric for inciting violence.

“It’s also not coincidental that this happened now,” CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said on air Thursday. “I mean, we have the president of the United States tweeting that reporters are the enemies of the American people. It’s one thing for, you know, journalists to be booed, to be yelled at, all of which is fair game. But when you’re starting to talk about physical violence — and body-slamming is no joke — this is a matter for law enforcement. This is not business as usual, or at least it shouldn’t be.”

Scott Whitlock, associated editor of the Media Research Center’s Newsbusters website, said the emerging media narrative is an outgrowth of reporters’ intense dislike of Trump.

“Trump is in Europe,” he said. “This happened in Montana … He had nothing to do with this.”

But that has not deterred pundits. Liberal commentator Kirsten Powers drew a connection on “Anderson Cooper 360” on Wednesday.

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“Isn’t it possibly tied into the fact that we have a president who’s constantly fomenting rage against reporters?” she asked. “I mean, is it possible that there’s some connection here?”

Former Democratic strategist Paul Begala nodded vigorously.

Politicians criticizing journalists is nothing new, of course. But Powers said it is worse under Trump.

“It’s at a different level than it’s ever been. I mean, it’s at a different level,” she said. “There’s no comparison to the way it is today than even a year ago, frankly, the absolute rage towards reporters.”

CNN anchor Don Lemon agreed with the media consensus and did not hide his contempt for dissenting views. He lectured Paris Dennard, who headed up black outreach for former President George W. Bush.

“You don’t think it’s because of a guy who’s in office now has said very horrible things about reporters, and has said that the reporters are the enemy of the American people?” he asked.

Lemon cut Dennard off when he answered in the negative.

“That has nothing to do with anything — that people feel that they can get away with it?” he said. “Because I don’t believe that you actually believe that. There’s no way you believe what you’re saying.”

The Trump’s-to-blame narrative continued Thursday morning.

“A guy assaults a reporter, which I guess shouldn’t be too surprising in an age of Trump where he calls the press enemy of the people,” Joe Scarborough said on his MSNBC show. “These reckless words have consequences.”

Matt Lewis, a columnist at the Daily Beast, said on CNN that it is “pretty clear that Donald Trump has contributed to what I would call a hostile work environment if you’re a reporter.”

Lewis referenced a story from the 2016 campaign in which police escorted an NBC News reporter to her car after a Trump rally because of fear for her safety.

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“My fear was that there might be some person out there, like an unstable person, who might hear what Donald Trump was saying, hear his rhetoric, and do something really stupid,” he said. “I didn’t imagine it would be a candidate for Congress.”

Host John Berman ended the segment with Lewis and RealClearPolitics reporter Caitlin Huey-Burns the way someone might see off a reporter headed to a war zone.

“Stay safe,” he said.

CNN’s Chris Cuomo expressed disappointment that Republican elected officials were not strongly condemning Gianforte.

“Not coming to defense is one thing,” he said. “You know, but what you deny, you empower. Not a time to be shy. It’s a time to be standing up if you’re a leader.”