Lawmakers react to Montana candidate Greg Gianforte's alleged assault of Guardian reporter

Following an altercation between Montana Republican Greg Gianforte and Guardian reporter Ben Jacobs, outcry over the candidate's handling of a question by a reporter is drawing swift reaction across Washington.

Gianforte, who is running to fill Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's vacant seat, was charged with misdemeanor assault late Wednesday. He's accused of grabbing Jacobs by the throat and throwing him to the ground in his campaign office earlier Wednesday night.

Both Democrats and Republicans on Capitol Hill Thursday offered their own takes on the interaction:

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-California:

"Try to have some level of dignity as to how to treat people and the behavior we expect from our own families and to see this person who wants to be the one representative into the house of Representatives from Montana be sort of a wanna be Trump. Language like that, treat people harshly like that. That's his model. Donald Trump is his model. We've really got to say, 'Come on, behave.' That was outrageous. Who the Republicans seat in their Congress, that is up to them, but I hope it would be up to the people of Montana to demand a higher standard of behavior for the sake of children."

Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wisconsin:

"[T]here's never a call for physical altercations. There is no time where a physical altercation should occur with the press, or just between human beings. So that was wrong, and it should not have happened. 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."

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Virginia:

"That was a really sad event, should never happen. We should be able to do our jobs and do them well and keep an even keel emotionally and let the First Amendment be, live and breathe, and let reporters do their job."

Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana:

"I think it's in the hands of the law enforcement officials now. I think it's certainly unacceptable and I think part of this job is being able to take questions from you and other reporters without fear of bodily harm. And I just think it's inappropriate. Now some people are probably unfit to do this job, and if you're not really willing to take tough questions and answer them I think it speaks to a lot of things in your person."

Rep. Ted. Lieu, D-Hawaii:

Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Arizona:

"I don't think there's ever any excuse to, to uh, throw down a reporter. So, I'm not exactly sure what happened. As much as we've all thought about it, from time to time. I don't think we'll go there."

Rep. Trent Franks, R-Arizona:

"Someone feels when reporters have no decorum, no sense of restraint, no sense of just common decency, I understand that. But it's only to fall into the hands of people like that when you resort to violence.  I do not condone in any way what our Republican candidate did, it's unfortunate that society's becoming so polarized we can't have a reasoned discussion."

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-South Carolina:

"That's something folks in Montana are going to decide, but I haven't seen the video, I haven't seen the details on it. It sounds awful."

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas:

"You know that's interesting, when I was running I came up here to an NRCC school teaching you about being a candidate, we didn't have a course on body slamming when I went to school, I missed that course. I'm sorry I missed that. I'm a former prosecutor and a former judge. Provoking words are never a defense."

Steve Stivers, National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman:

"From what I know of Greg Gianforte, this was totally out of character, but we all make mistakes. We need to let the facts surrounding this incident unfold. Today's special election is bigger than any one person; it's about the views of all Montanans. They deserve to have their voices heard in Washington."

Former Rep. John Dingell, D-Michigan: