Rep. John Garamendi (D., Calif.) said Friday he could get into a "serious altercation" with Donald Trump Jr. over his comment that Democrats want the coronavirus to ruin President Trump's chances of winning in November.
"He should not be near me when he says that," Garamendi said. "There would be a serious altercation. That's totally outrageous. I can assure you that there's not a Democrat or Republican in Congress that wants anybody to be sick."
MSNBC's Hallie Jackson asked Garamendi to respond to Trump Jr., who said Democrats "seemingly [hope coronavirus] comes here and kills millions of people so it can end the president's streak of winning," arguing Democrats have "a new level of sickness."
President Trump's response to the coronavirus has also been critiqued across the board by Democrats, even though reports indicate no fatalities in the United States. Presidential candidates Joe Biden and Michael Bloomberg wrongly claimed this week that budget cuts in the Trump administration have left the nation unprepared to properly fight the virus.
According to an Associated Press fact check, there were no significant budget cuts to the executive branch agencies tasked with responding to the coronavirus, as Biden and Bloomberg alleged. Trump's public health budget cuts have been overruled by Congress, and cuts to grant programs for state and local governments were initiated before Trump took office.
Panic over the looming threat of the coronavirus's arrival in America heightened Wednesday when a Department of Health and Human Services whistleblower alleged federal employees tasked with handling coronavirus quarantine patients didn't follow proper safety protocols.
Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham have both accused Democrats of "weaponizing" the coronavirus against Trump.