MSNBC: Gianforte Supporters Were ‘Almost Inspired’ by His Assault on Ben Jacobs

EXCERPT:

HAAKE: "Last we checked, it was about 7 points, but I think they’re still counting votes out here in Montana, sort of a notoriously slow-counting state. I’ve got to tell you, it was a weird vibe in the room last night. Gianforte’s supporters were almost inspired by this altercation with the reporter from a day and a half ago. Republican groups who were sort of affiliated with the campaign told me that they found people really liked this idea that he was a fighter. And their initial statement sort of doubled down on that, blaming this incident on a reporter. So last night when Gianforte came out to make his victory speech and his tone turned to sort of contrition, people in the room were surprised when he gave this fairly long apology right in the middle of his victory speech."