“Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this f***ing balcony!”
Michael Grimm, speaking after President Obama’s State of the Union address, threatened a reporter saying, “I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.”
Grimm is the Republican Congressman from New York’s 11th district. He is currently under investigation for his campaign finance dealings during the last election. The reporter, Michael Scotto, asked the Congressman about the investigation when Grimm immediately became volatile.
Grimm is quoted as saying, “Let me be clear to you, you ever do that to me again I’ll throw you off this f***ing balcony!” Grimm apparently only wanted to talk about the State of the Union.
Grimm went on to physically and verbally intimidate the reporter before backing off. He later released this statement:
“I was extremely annoyed because I was doing NY1 a favor by rushing to do their interview first in lieu of several other requests. The reporter knew that I was in a hurry and was only there to comment on the State of the Union, but insisted on taking a disrespectful and cheap shot at the end of the interview, because I did not have time to speak off-topic. I verbally took the reporter to task and told him off, because I expect a certain level of professionalism and respect, especially when I go out of my way to do that reporter a favor. I doubt that I am the first Member of Congress to tell off a reporter, and I am sure I won’t be the last.”
Grimm went on to apologize to the reporter, which Scotto promptly accecpted.
