British Prime Minister Theresa May pushed back against President Trump’s flattering comments during a Thursday campaign rally about Rep. Greg Gianforte, who assaulted a reporter for The Guardian two years ago.
“He obviously made comments at a political rally, and those are for him,” a May spokesperson told The Guardian. “But more generally we would always say that any violence or intimidation against a journalist is completely unacceptable.”
In 2017, Mr. Gianforte, Montana Republican, body-slammed Ben Jacobs, a political reporter for the U.K.-based newspaper. The then-congressional candidate initially denied that version of events, but pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault after winning the election.
Mr. Trump praised Mr. Gianforte Thursday night while speaking at a rally in Missoula and told the crowd to “never wrestle him.”
“Any guy that can do a body slam, he’s my candidate, he’s my guy,” Mr. Trump said.
John Mulholland, the U.S. editor of The Guardian, condemned the president’s comments in a statement Thursday night, calling them particularly dangerous in light of Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi’s presumed murder in Syria.
“The President of the United States applauded the assault on an American journalist who worked for The Guardian,” Mr. Mulholland wrote. “To celebrate an attack on a journalist who was simply doing his job is an attack on the First Amendment by someone who has taken an oath to defend it.”
Please read our comment policy before commenting.