Editorial

It’s Pretty Bold For A Republican Official To Say She Would Shoot A Journalist

Reuters/Tommy Martino

David Hookstead Sports And Entertainment Editor
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Montana Republican official Karen Marshall believes she would have shot journalist Ben Jacobs over his altercation with Congressman Greg Gianforte.

Gianforte infamously shoved Jacobs to the ground days before winning his seat in Montana’s 2017 special election. Marshall thinks he might not have gone far enough.

WATCH GIANFORTE BODYSLAM REPORTER BEN JACOBS:

The Guardian, who employs Jacobs, reported the following:

“If that kid had done to me what he did to Greg, I would have shot him,” Karen Marshall, vice-president of programs for Gallatin County Republican Women told the Voice of Montana radio program on Thursday.

Marshall also described herself as a “friend” of Gianforte. According to federal records, a Karen Marshall from Bozeman, Montana, donated the federal maximum of $2,700 to Gianforte’s campaign for Congress.

“That kid came on private property, came into a private building, and went into a very private room that I would not even have gone into,” Marshall said. “It was a setup. A complete setup. He just pushed a little too hard.”

I’ve spent a lot of time in Montana, and I knew the moment this altercation happened that people in Montana wouldn’t really care. In fact, the beautiful people in Montana have a particular disdain for the media and coastal elites. I loved how all these morons in the media thought Gianforte cost himself the election. Anybody who has spent substantial time in Montana knew he sealed his victory the moment Jacobs hit the ground.

A coworker of mine asked me shortly after the dustup what I thought a lot of people in Montana would have done. I jokingly said that at least a few of them probably would have shot him. After all, trespassing or entering private rooms in Montana is a great way to find out how the business end of a firearm works.

It’s one thing for a guy like me to say that stuff in a semi-joking manner. A Republican leader saying the same thing, and being serious, is wild. I don’t know exactly how the state laws in Montana would have applied to a shooting in this situation, but Marshall appears to be very confident it would have been justified. Thankfully, we’ll never have to find out.

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