Florida’s Democratic Rep. Alcee Hastings told a joke on Sunday night about President Donald Trump drowning that drew laughter and applause from his audience, The Hill reported on Monday.
Hastings, who made the remark at a rally in Sunrise, South Florida, said he heard the joke from the son of a former state legislator, according to a video of the event.
"Do you know the difference between a crisis and a catastrophe?" Hastings said. "A crisis is if Donald Trump falls into the Potomac River and can’t swim… And a catastrophe is if anybody saves his a**."
The event attracted four of the five Democratic candidates for governor, as well as Democratic Sen. Bill Nelson, who is running for re-election, according to the Sun-Sentinel.
Hastings, who boycotted Trump’s inauguration, harshly criticized the president during the rally, saying "There is no question that something is tragically wrong with the president of the United States in his mind."
He also said that if special counsel Robert Mueller doesn’t bring down Trump, then "Omarosa will," referring to Omarosa Manigault Newman, who recently published her memoir, "Unhinged," that makes controversial assertions about her time working in the White House.
Hastings urged Democrats to turn out for the midterm elections this November to avoid what he said were continued assaults on "voting rights, equal rights and women’s rights," emphasizing that "We’ve seen a degradation in our society, a turning back of the clock in a way that none of us ever imagined would occur."
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