Justin Lecea — a self-described “Bernie Democrat” running to unseat Texas Democratic Congressman Joaquin Castro — is defending a tweet in which he wished former President Barack Obama would get cancer.

Over the weekend, Lecea retweeted an Obama tweet reminding people about the deadline for enrollment in Obamacare, and added his uncharitable message.

“I just want you to think about all the people who have and will die because Obamacare is pointless and your entire presidency was a waste,” he wrote, and added “If god was just you would get the most malignant cancer imaginable.”

The tweet was later deleted, but preserved in a screenshot by Obamacare enrollment analyst Charles Gaba.

However, Lecea would later graduate from wishing cancer on Obama to saying he deserves “worse” that the deadly disease.

After some backlash, he wrote on Twitter that “People are criticizing me for wishing cancer on Obama. I say that having lost a parent to brain cancer after 12 years of fighting, and getting to see just how terrible our Healthcare system is, and I still think he deserves it or worse.”

People are criticizing me for wishing cancer on Obama. I say that having lost a parent to brain cancer after 12 years of fighting, and getting to see just how terrible our Healthcare system is, and I still think he deserves it or worse. — Justin for Congress (@JustinTX_20) December 16, 2019

He then leveled several criticisms at Obama that were unrelated to health care, and concluded by saying “So @ me all you want I said nothing directly threatening.”

Lecea is a socialist running in the Democratic primary for Texas’ 20th congressional district. He’s a strong supporter of Independent Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders, and describes himself as a “Bernie Democrat.”

The rate of uninsured Texans fell precipitously following passage of the Affordable Care Act, despite the fact that the state refused Obamacare’s Medicaid expansion, but the rate has crept back up under the Trump administration. The Affordable Care Act also made it illegal for insurance companies to discriminate against consumers with pre-existing medical conditions, including cancer.

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