Following the president’s State of the Union address a local New York reporter interviewed his representative about the speech and other issues, but the congressman became angry when asked about his campaign finance scandal.
Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) was caught on video Tuesday night getting into a reporter’s face and allegedly threatening him following President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address.
Grimm seemingly lost his cool after NY1 reporter Michael Scotto attempted to go off-script to ask the congressman about allegations concerning his campaign finances. The New York lawmaker first stormed away, only to return seconds later and physically intimidate the reporter.
Bob Hardt, NY1′s political director, tweeted that Grimm “physically threatened” Scotto. He later alleged that the congressman threatened to throw the reporter off the balcony and said, “I will break you in half.”
Grim reportedly issued an apology Wednesday morning
It is becoming more common for leaders to believe that they are above scrutiny. The press has failed to do its job when they agree ideologically with the politician and when a reporter actually asks a difficult question, the politician is taken aback. We need the press to do its job consistently.