Is it any surprise?

Republican and ardent Trumpery supporter, Greg Gianforte was charged with assault after he body-slammed Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs to the floor on the eve of Montana's special election, breaking his glasses and screaming: “Get the hell out of here.”

Jacobs crime?  Asking Gianforte, a millionaire endorsed by Trumpery, about the Republican healthcare plan.

“He took me to the ground,” Jacobs said by phone from the back of an ambulance. “I think he whaled on me once or twice … He got on me and I think he hit me … This is the strangest thing that has ever happened to me in reporting on politics.”

Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna, field producer Faith Mangan and photographer Keith Railey witnessed the assault at Gianforte’s campaign headquarters in Montana. After Jacobs asked Gianforte his question, Acuna wrote: “Gianforte grabbed Jacobs by the neck with both hands and slammed him into the ground behind him."

“Faith, Keith and I watched in disbelief as Gianforte then began punching the man, as he moved on top of the reporter and began yelling something to the effect of ‘I’m sick and tired of this!’ … To be clear, at no point did any of us who witnessed this assault see Jacobs show any form of physical aggression toward Gianforte, who left the area after giving statements to local sheriff’s deputies.”

Is it any surprise that Trumpery types feel it's perfectly OK to assault and batter journalists?

T-shirts like these are worn at every Trumpery rally.

And the final kicker?  Gianforte has financial ties to US-sanctioned Russian companies.