Former Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe on Sunday walked back comments he made last week in which he seemed to insinuate he would punch President Trump if Trump were to ever get in his “space.”
“I answered the question like I think most folks would actually answer the question,” McAuliffe told CNN, referring to the response he gave when asked by MSNBC how he would handle Trump’s apparent intimidation tactics.
“I didn’t say punch, maybe if I had to push him back gently and he fell down on his own, but the point of this is I’m sick and tired of Donald Trump attacking everybody,” McAuliffe continued. “He intimidates people, and people need to stand up and punch him back, punch him back rhetorically.”
McAuliffe told MSNBC on Thursday Trump would need to be picked up “off the floor” if Trump tried to come too close to him like he did during one of the presidential debates against Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
McAuliffe, who was replaced in Virginia’s governor’s mansion by Democratic successor Ralph Northam on Saturday, also hit out at Trump over reports he made disparaging comments about Haiti and African nations during a White House meeting with lawmakers regarding immigration on Thursday.
McAuliffe, however, fell short of labelling Trump a racist over what he described as “disgraceful, disgusting” remarks.
“I certainly think he makes racist comments,” McAuliffe said.
Trump has denied making the statements, which allegedly include a reference to “shithole countries.”
McAuliffe, a former Democratic National Committee chairman, additionally tamped down speculation he was gearing up for a 2020 run for the Democratic presidential nomination.
“I’m doing a big project on redistricting, that will be my focus in ’18. And we’ll see what happens after that,” he added.
