Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester said Thursday the best way for Democrats to beat President Trump in 2020 is to “go back and punch him in the face” in an interview on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I don’t think, even in states where Donald Trump won big, that it did you any good running away from Donald Trump,” he said. “I think you need to go back and punch him in the face. The truth is this guy is bad for this country.”

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Joe Scarborough prompted the statement by asking Tester to give Democrats advice on how to defeat Trump, as someone who “had no problem” attacking him as racist, while also agreeing with him in certain policy areas, and then winning re-election. (RELATED: Trump Goes After Tester — Compares Him To Big Dem Leaders)

“Please, tell other Democrats how to do that going into 2020,” Scarborough said.

“You don’t take the bait that President Trump came out here,” Tester replied. “You say that what he has done is absolutely disgraceful for the country and call it for what it is, which is racism. And then you talk about things like high costs of health care, high costs of higher education. What you’re going to do on the southern border to help stop the situations down there. I think those — the kind of issues that really hit home, how you’re going to invest in infrastructure and how you’re going to pay for it, I think those are the issues that really will move the folks who will get you elected.”