Reporter Ben Jacobs ‘Disappointed’ With Congressman Who Body-Slammed Him

Image by Twitter
Hoping to open a new page in their relationship, members of the Committee to Protect Journalists met on October 5 with Rep. Greg Gianforte, the Montana Republican who body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs.
But it didn’t end well.
The group, which asked to discuss with Gianforte ways of working to defend journalists and free press, was granted a 30 minutes meeting. But after just seven minutes, Gianforte was called out to vote and the discussion continued with his staff members.
CPJ suggested he join the Caucus for Freedom of the Press, or the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission. “Greg didn’t come here to join clubs,” his chief of staff responded, according to a statement put out by CPJ’s advocacy director.
The group expressed its disappointment with Gianforte’s staff’s response, as did Jacobs, who said the congressman “has yet again failed to live up to his past statements.” Jacobs added that Gianforte also refused to give him an on-record interview and that he had expected the lawmaker to be “sincere” in his support for free press.
“Instead, he is continuing to behave like the worst stereotype of a Washington politician,” Jacobs said.
Contact Nathan Guttman at [email protected] or on Twitter @nathanguttman
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Most Popular
- 1
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
- 2
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
- 3
Opinion A Holocaust perpetrator was just celebrated on US soil. I think I know why no one objected.
- 4
Culture Did this Jewish literary titan have the right idea about Harry Potter and J.K. Rowling after all?
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward Protesters clash in Crown Heights as Ben-Gvir visits Chabad headquarters
-
Yiddish ווידעאָ: היסטאָריקער שמואל קאַסאָוו דערציילט מעשׂיות פֿון זײַן משפּחה־געשיכטעVIDEO: Historian Samuel Kassow shares stories about his family history
דער ווידעאָ איז טשיקאַווע סײַ פֿאַרן אינהאַלט סײַ פֿאַר קאַסאָווס נאַטירלעכן ליטוויש־ייִדיש
-
Culture I have seen the future of America — in a pastrami sandwich in Queens
-
Culture Trump wants to honor Hannah Arendt in a ‘Garden of American Heroes.’ Is this a joke?
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.