Washington, Oct 19 (AFP) Donald Trump is "cheerleading" violence against the media, an association representing White House correspondents said Friday after the president applauded an assault by a congressman on a reporter.

"All Americans should recoil from the president's praise for a violent assault on a reporter doing his Constitutionally protected job," Olivier Knox, head of the White House Correspondents' Association, said in a statement.

"This amounts to the celebration of a crime," Knox said. He was referring to a moment at a campaign rally in Montana on Thursday when Trump heaped praise on local congressman Greg Gianforte who used a wrestling move to slam a Guardian reporter on the floor in 2017.

"Any guy that can do a body slam, he's my kind of guy," Trump told the rally about Gianforte, winning prolonged applause and laughter. "Don't wrestle with him."

Knox said: "We should never shrug at the president cheerleading for a violent act targeting a free and independent news media." Gianforte pleaded guilty to assault but avoided jail time. (AFP) KUN

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)