A White House spokesperson said that President Donald Trump has "no comment" on the alleged altercation between a Republican congressional candidate and a reporter.

Greg Gianforte, who is running for the at-large congressional seat in Montana, reportedly body-slammed Ben Jacobs, a reporter for The Guardian, on Wednesday night. He was charged with misdemeanor assault.

Polls opened in Montana today.

Trump previously recorded a robocall in support of Gianforte, calling him a "wonderful guy."

Meanwhile, House Speaker Paul Ryan criticized the alleged altercation, saying, "There's never a call for physical altercations."

"There is no time that a physical altercation should occur with the press or just between human beings, so that is wrong and it should not have happened," Ryan said at a news conference this morning.

He continued, "Should the gentleman apologize? Yeah, I think he should apologize. I know he has his own version and I'm sure he's going to have more to say but there's no call for this no matter what, under any circumstance. The people of Montana are going to decide today who they are going to send to Congress."

.@SpeakerRyan says he thinks Gianforte should apologize: "There's no call for this." https://t.co/pTVd9p32bl pic.twitter.com/UcVxva99A0 — ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) May 25, 2017

What witnesses say allegedly happened

Jacobs, a political reporter for The Guardian, approached the former technology executive Gianforte at a meet-and-greet event at the candidate's office in Bozeman, according to several eyewitnesses including Jacobs, Alexis Levinson of Buzzfeed News and journalists at Fox News.

Reporter Alicia Acuna said she and two members of her Fox News production crew -- field producer Faith Mangan and photographer Keith Railey -- witnessed the incident first hand.

"Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him," Acuna wrote in a Fox News report on Wednesday, summarizing the incident.

"Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the reporter," she said, confirming Jacobs' account of the incident.

Levinson recounted in a series of posts on Twitter and in audio of the encounter later posted by The Guardian, Jacobs approached Gianforte as he was preparing for a television interview and asked for his opinion on the Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the American Health Care Act.

Reporter allegedly body-slammed by Republican candidate Greg Gianforte speaks out

The single county to watch in Montana's special election

"We'll talk to you about that later," said Gianforte. After Jacobs asks again, Gianforte refers him to a spokesman and then a scuffle ensues.

"I'm sick and tired of you guys," said Gianforte on the audio recording. "The last guy who came in here ... did the same thing. Get the hell out of here."

At one point Gianforte asks, "Are you with The Guardian?"

After the alleged incident Wednesday, Jacobs wrote on Twitter, "Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses."

Greg Gianforte just body slammed me and broke my glasses — Ben Jacobs (@Bencjacobs) May 24, 2017

Legal fallout

Sheriff Brian Gootkin announced the charge on the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office website, noting that "it was determined there was probable cause to issue a citation to Greg Gianforte for misdemeanor assault." The statement added that the "nature of the injuries did not meet the statutory elements of felony assault."

The Gianforte's citation has since been released and it states that he is scheduled to appear in Gallatin County Justice Court between now and June 7th.

At a press conference earlier in the day, Gootkin said that four people were present for the alleged incident.

Jacobs' account

In an interview on MSNBC Wednesday evening, Jacobs elaborated, saying that he had "been pressing the campaign for a few days to grab Gianforte one-on-one" and after being rebuked, attempted to ask about the CBO score "while he was just standing around."

After detailing the moments on the audio recording, Jacobs said, "And next thing I know, I'm being body slammed."

"He's on top of me for a second. My glasses are broken," said Jacobs. "It's the strangest... moment in my entire life reporting." The reporter said he then left and called police before being brought to the hospital where he was to have his elbow X-rayed. He has since been released, the Gallatin County Sheriff's Office said during a press conference Wednesday night, adding it was not aware of the specifics of his injuries.

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