Donald Trump Jr. said Democrats were for rooting for the coronavirus to kill millions of people just to besmirch his father's presidency

A spokesman for Donald Trump Jr. ripped Rep. John Garamendi and MSNBC anchor Hallie Jackson Friday after the lawmaker said he would get into a "serious altercation" with the president's eldest son after he defended the administration's response to the coronavirus threat.

"The outrageous remarks from Congressman Garamendi were beyond the pale and should be universally condemned by Republicans and Democrats alike,"  spokesman Andy Surabian, told Fox News on Friday.

Almost as outrageous as the Congressman’s comments was the lack of pushback or condemnation from MSNBC host Hallie Jackson, whose silence about political violence aimed towards a member of the first family, was truly deafening."

In Surabian's statement to Fox News, he added that Garamendi was better suited to represent "Antifa," the violent left-wing organization that repeatedly protests the president.

"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," Surabian said. "He should apologize immediately."

Garamendi appeared to threaten Trump Jr. earlier Friday while discussing the coronavirus outbreak on MSNBC. Jackson had asked the congressman about Trump Jr.'s remark on "Fox & Friends" that Democrats apparently hope that the virus "comes here, and kills millions of people so they can end Donald Trump's streak of winning."

"He should not be near me when he says that," Garamendi responded. "There would be a serious altercation. That is just totally outrageous. That is totally outrageous."

"I can assure you that there is not a Democrat or Republican in Congress that wants anybody to be sick," the lawmaker added, before saying he was concerned about the administration's response to the virus. Later in his interview, Garamendi again warned that "Don Jr. better not get anyplace close to me. It would not be a healthy situation."

NBC Universal did not immediately respond to Fox News' request for comment.

In a statement provided to Fox News, Garamendi said his "sole focus is on the health and safety of my constituents and all Americans."

He added: "Donald Trump Jr. made the outrageous statement that Democrats want people to die for political purposes. If he wants to come to my office to explain his comments, my door is open. There is no threat of physical violence — but he can expect a strong verbal altercation. I will continue working to ensure our communities have the testing kits and resources necessary to successfully address the Coronavirus crisis. I hope Donald Trump Jr. and the President will join me in this effort.”

OK, so. The President's eldest son, who has made no secret of his interest in running for office and maybe even president in the future, is suggesting that Democrats are rooting for coronavirus to come to the United States and kill "millions of people" solely so that they might have a better chance of winning in November.

What can you say about that line of logic?

At its most basic level, this sort of stuff from Don Jr. is deeply irresponsible.

What he is conflating is the Democratic criticism of the Trump administration for both a lack of preparedness and a lack of seriousness in terms of public statements about the threat posed by coronavirus with, somehow, Democrats rooting for Americans to die en masse.

Trump Jr. has to know that's not what is going on here. No matter what you think of Democrats or Republicans, the idea that a political party would be actively rooting for people to get sick and die is beyond ludicrous. No rational person -- even if you disagree with every single policy Democrats push -- can think that.

What Trump Jr. is doing here then is using rhetorical hyperbole for the political benefit of his father. It's a tactic he got from his dad, after all. The President has repeatedly referred to Democrats as "really evil people" and "horrible." He has suggested that Speaker Nancy Pelosi uses religion as a crutch. He has insinuated that any number of Democrats -- Pelosi, Hillary Clinton, California Rep. Adam Schiff -- have major mental problems.

What Don Jr. did on Friday morning is simply take this dehumanizing of political opponents to its logical conclusion: These people are evil, so they are doing what evil people do -- root for millions of deaths so they can win a political race

Again, there is no way that Don Jr. actually believes this. He's just throwing red meat to a conservative base that has been primed -- by his father -- to believe the absolute worst about Democrats or, really, anyone who disagrees with the President on anything.

That someone in such a prominent position would do so is shocking, although it probably shouldn't be, since the apple rarely falls that far from the tree.