A day after Greg Gianforte, the Republican front-runner in the Montana special election, was charged with assaulting a reporter, conservative website LifeZette published a misleading headline about the incident.
The article tells a different story from the headline. The "change" the headline refers to is Acuna being unsure of where Gianforte's hands were positioned while allegedly attacking Jacobs.
The post was immediately denounced by some reporters on Twitter.
More wisdom from Laura Ingram, who says she spotted the "inaccuracy" because she "done a lot of taekwondo"… https://t.co/mw9CbfRndQ
This is garbage from @IngrahamAngle's website. Look at the headline vs. actual comments, and subhead.
However, as soon as the article was published, Glanforte's supporters seized the opportunity to discredit the assault story.
Bombshell: Montana Fox News Reporter Changes Her Story, Admits No Neck Grab https://t.co/MYB61SrgEA
Gianforte did NOT grab Ben Jacobs by the neck. The witnesses (that work for @FoxNews) lied about it. #FakeNews https://t.co/IxJnyammih
#Lyingmedia @foxnews It seems a reporter needs to be fired: Alicia Acuna. And probably lied to Police. https://t.co/KYYE6qLTkG
One of the people who shared the story was Montana's Elections Director, Derek Oestreicher, who posted it on his private Facebook page. He said he deleted the post after BuzzFeed News contacted him to ask about the share and told him it was inaccurate.
Derek is the Director of Elections at the Montana Secretary of State's office. What a world. #mtpol #mtal… https://t.co/flQcM8jQ1U