Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-AZ) was succinct and to the point on Wednesday with his reaction to a Russian politician who openly advocated for his kidnapping. The Daily Beast reported that State Duma member Aleksei Zhuravlyov brazenly proposed on Russia state TV that the Arizona lawmaker should be snatched up, brought to Russia, and forced to explain “whom he wanted to kill.” This was in response to Gallego calling for increased military action to temper Russia’s escalation at the Ukraine border.
“Fuck around and find out,” Gallego tweeted in response on Wednesday night, alongside an emoji of an American flag. During a later appearance on MSNBC’s The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, Gallego said Zhuravlyov could “get in line.” Adding that he’d been “threatened by insurgents in Iraq,” the Marine combat veteran said the Russian politician’s “little words aren’t going to make a difference.”
“I’m going to be here to do anything I can to support Ukraine democracy and democracy everywhere else, and you know what, you want to throw threats at me, we’ll see what happens,” Gallego concluded.