Greg Gianforte says he's 'not proud' of altercation with reporter

Republican Greg Gianforte, the projected winner of Montana's special election to fill its vacant House seat, used part of his victory speech Thursday night to apologize to the reporter he has been charged with assaulting.

"Last night, I made a mistake, and I took an action that I can't take back," Gianforte said in front of a crowd in Bozeman. "I'm not proud of what happened. I should not have responded in the way that I did and for that, I am sorry." At that point, someone in the audience yelled, "You are forgiven," which resulted in some cheers of agreement. Gianforte shushed the crowd and continued, "I should not have treated that reporter that way and for that, I'm sorry, Mr. Ben Jacobs."

The Guardian's Jacobs and a Fox News crew in the room say Gianforte "body slammed" Jacobs at an event in Bozeman, resulting in his glasses being broken; he had to go to a local hospital to be checked out and have X-rays taken of his elbow. The Gianforte campaign released a statement that claimed Jacobs "aggressively" put a recorder in Gianforte's face, then "grabbed Greg's wrist, and spun away from Greg, pushing them both the ground," but not long after, Fox News reporter Alicia Acuna posted her eyewitness account of the incident, which lined up with what Jacobs said and an audio recording that was released by The Guardian. You can watch Acuna explain what she saw below. Catherine Garcia

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