Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D.) suggested Thursday that he would knock out President Donald Trump during a debate if Trump tried to intimidate him or get in his space.
Asked by MSNBC's Chris Matthews what he would do if Trump tried to intimidate him as Hillary Clinton said he was trying to do during their 2016 town hall debate, McAuliffe said Trump would have to be picked up off the floor.
"What would you do in a debate with him if he tried that? If he came over and leaned over back of you, what would you do?" Matthews asked.
"You would have to pick him up off the floor," McAuliffe said.
Matthews cracking up in laughter at that thought, followed up with McAuliffe.
"OK, you mean, you'd deck him?" Matthews asked.
"Listen, this guy got in my space, you want to get in my space, I've always said, Chris, you punch me, I'm going to puch back twice as hard, and it wouldn't be hard to do it," McAuliffe said. "This guy thinks he can intimidate everybody. It's disgraceful and embarrassing. But I tell you, when we take him on, back in his face with the facts, don't take anything from him and hit him back as hard as you possibly can."
"But if he ever came over and leaned on me and got in my space, that would be the last time Donald Trump ever did that, I promise you that," McAuliffe added.
Matthews thanked McAuliffe for his "performance" and told McAuliffe his comments "will go viral."
"You sound like an Irish-American politician," Matthews said.
McAuliffe, who is about to leave office, has consistently given coy responses when asked if he's running for president in 2020.