Outgoing Virginia governor says he'd deck Trump if provoked

The Associated Press
Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 10:36 a.m. | Friday, Jan. 12, 2018 10:36 a.m.

In this Jan. 10, 2018 file photo, Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe gestures as he addresses a joint session of the the 2018 session in the House chambers at the Capitol in Richmond, Va. The existence of a federal investigation into McAuliffe was widely reported two years ago.

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President Donald Trump leads a prison reform roundtable in the Roosevelt Room at the White House, on January 11, 2018 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

RICHMOND, Va. — Outgoing Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told a national television audience he'd knock President Donald Trump to the floor if the president ever tried to intimidate him.

During an interview Thursday on MSNBC's “Hardball,” Chris Matthews asked McAuliffe how he would respond if Trump tried to intimidate him during a debate by hovering over him, as he did in a 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton, a close friend of McAuliffe's.

McAuliffe responded: “You'd have to pick him up off the floor.”

McAuliffe, who was a top Democratic fundraiser before being elected governor in 2013, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.

McAuliffe has been a vocal critic of Trump, particularly after Trump said “both sides” shared blame after white nationalists and counterprotestors clashed during a deadly rally in Charlottesville in August.