ELECTION/GOP/MEDIA/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP PEOPLE: “President Donald Trump said Friday [10-19-18] he doesn’t regret praising a Republican congressman who body slammed a reporter…Trump had praised Gianforte for assaulting a reporter during his campaign last May, saying ‘any guy who can do a body slam … he’s my guy’ and made a gesture mimicking a body slam. At a Montana rally Thursday night, Trump admitted, ‘I shouldn’t say this,’ but continued and said, ‘there’s nothing to be embarrassed about.’ The comment comes at the same time as the administration responds to the disappearance and apparent murder of Washington Post journalist Jamal Khashoggi in the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. Khashoggi was last seen entering the Saudi consulate on October 2 and Turkish media reports that an audio recording suggests Khashoggi was tortured and killed soon after entering the building before being dismembered…Gianforte pleaded guilty to misdemeanor assault in June 2017 after he was convicted of ‘body slamming’ Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian.”
–Kate Sullivan, Jim Acosta, Betsy Klein and Kevin Liptak, “Trump says he has no regrets about praising congressman for assaulting reporter,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, October 19, 2018 4:20 pm