This story isn’t about me, but since some are making the comparison, here are two brief points: One, what happened to Jacobs (according to Fox News eyewitnesses)—that he was grabbed by the neck, body-slammed, and punched—is much worse than being hip-checked into a metal fence.

Two, the Gianforte campaign’s lies about Jacobs are even worse than Gianforte’s physical attack on Jacobs. Lying about anyone is wrong, but a journalist’s livelihood depends on his reputation for honest and accurate reporting. My biggest concern after the Coakley incident—which occurred a few months after another campaign called the cops on me for asking questions (persistently but politely!) and then lied about my behavior—was that the Coakley campaign would spin the story, and some people wouldn’t believe me. It was quite a relief that there was videotape to confirm the accuracy of my reporting. So I can only imagine that what Jacobs is feeling right now is a sense of relief: Whatever physical injuries he sustained would’ve been nothing compared to damage done to his reputation if he hadn’t been lucky enough to have an audiotape and eyewitnesses to confirm the truth of his reporting.