Donald Trump was being “playful” when he praised a Montana congressman who assaulted a Guardian reporter, said a Republican senator whose new book sets out to “heal” America’s glaring political divide.

In Missoula, Montana on Thursday, Trump discussed Greg Gianforte’s attack on Ben Jacobs, which happened in May 2017 when Jacobs asked the then candidate a question about healthcare. To laughter, the president mimed a “body slam” and said Gianforte was “my guy”. The attack broke Jacobs’ glasses and injured his elbow. On Sunday, Ben Sasse of Nebraska appeared on CNN’s State of the Union. “I got to admit I don’t follow the rallies,” said the conservative critic of Trump with rumoured White House ambitions who nonetheless usually votes with the president. “But I think the first amendment is the beating heart of the American experiment. So we need to have a president who celebrates the first amendment and not pretends that beating up a reporter is OK.(theguardian)…[+]