Democratic lawmaker threatens 'serious altercation' with Trump Jr. over coronavirus remarks

By Joe Concha - 02/28/20 12:07 PM EST
 

Rep. John GaramendiJohn Raymond GaramendiWuhan is the final straw: The world needs to divest from China GOP seizes on 'defund the police' to galvanize base Peace Corps faces uncertain future with no volunteers in field MORE (D-Calif.) on Friday threatened a "serious altercation" with Donald TrumpDonald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE Jr. after the president's eldest son said Democrats "seemingly hope" that the coronavirus comes to the U.S. "and kills millions of people so that they can end Donald Trump’s streak of winning."

“He should not be near me when he says that,” Garamendi said during an interview with MSNBC's Hallie Jackson.

“Why not?” Jackson asked.

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“There would be a serious altercation,” the congressman replied. “That is just totally outrageous. I can assure you that there’s not a Democrat or Republican in Congress that wants anybody to be sick.”

“Don Jr. better not get close to me,” Garamendi added. “It would not be a healthy situation.”

Earlier Friday, Trump Jr. accused Democrats of politicizing the spread of the coronavirus.

“Anything that they can use to try to hurt Trump, they will," Trump Jr. said. "But for them to try to take a pandemic and seemingly hope that it comes here and kills millions of people so that they could end Donald Trump’s streak of winning is a new level of sickness."

A spokesperson for Trump Jr. later criticized both Garamendi and MSNBC's Jackson and said the lawmaker should apologize for his on-air comments.
 
"The outrageous remarks from Congressman Garamendi were beyond the pale and should be universally condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike," said Andy Surabian.
 
"Almost as outrageous as the Congressman’s comments was the lack of pushback or condemnation from MSNBC host Hallie Jackson," he added, calling her "silence about political violence aimed towards a member of the first family...truly deafening."
 
"By threatening Don Jr. with physical violence on national TV, Congressman Garamendi made clear to everyone watching that he is better suited to represent Antifa than the people of California’s 3rd Congressional district. He should apologize immediately," Surabian said.
 
Updated at 2:52 p.m.

Tags John Garamendi Donald Trump Coronavirus