Popular YouTuber and GOP Congressional candidate Joseph Saladino, better known as Joey Salads, got into a tense confrontation with liberal counterprotesters during a demonstration against Rep. Ilhan Omar.

Saldino says that his girlfriend, who was filming, was also mildly assaulted by the men as they grew more aggressive.

The incident took place at a rally at Congressman Max Rose’s Brooklyn office that was organized by Americans Against Antisemitism. The rally was intended to urge Rose to push for Rep. Omar to be removed from the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

TRENDING: This Is America? Young Mother TASED, CUFFED AND ARRESTED for Not Wearing Face-Mask at Mostly Empty Stadium to Watch HS Football Game

I tried to have a conversation with a Liberal today but things escalated quickly, a mild assault on my Girlfriend, by most likely a Max Rose Supporter I went to the opposition's side just to understand their POV, they refused to explain their beliefs and got increasingly VIOLENT pic.twitter.com/XNFcbZZulQ — Saladino for Congress (@JoeySalads) June 23, 2019

Saldino, who is running to unseat Rose in New York’s 11th District, tweeted that he had attempted to speak to the counterprotesters to “understand their point of view,” but that they got “increasingly violent. The man he was speaking to was holding a sign that read, “What do you think AIPAC does?” While the conversation appeared to start out civil, other protesters began to get involved, chant and attempt to escalate the situation.

“Imagine if a left-wing politician was assaulted by a right wing group. It would be running as 24/7 coverage right now. I wonder if even the local papers would cover this,” Saldino tweeted along with a video of the incident.

Imagine if a left-wing politician was assaulted by a right wing group.

It would be running as 24/7 coverage right now. I wonder if even the local papers would cover this. — Saladino for Congress (@JoeySalads) June 23, 2019

Speaking to The Gateway Pundit about the incident, Saldino said that he is “waiting for Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Max Rose to disavow these supporters.”

The Staten Island native lists slowing economic opportunity for the area’s youth, ever increasing taxes, and the growing opioid addiction crisis as some of the top issues he will be addressing with his campaign. He is well-known for his comedic videos running pranks on unsuspecting strangers — which are not usually overtly political in nature.

Saldino has also been an outspoken critic of Big Tech censorship, promising that if he is elected he will do everything in his power to protect the freedom of speech on social media platforms.

“If these platforms are going to act against the interests of Free Speech, they will lose any perks the government is giving them,” Saldino said in a recent tweet. “Similar to what Trump is doing with college campuses.”

If I am elected to congress, I will do all I can to protect Freedom of speech on Social Media platforms.

If these platforms are going to act against the interests of Free Speech, they will lose any perks the gov is giving them. Similar to what Trump is doing w/ college campuses — Saladino for Congress (@JoeySalads) June 6, 2019

“Max Rose promised much and delivered little in his time in Congress other than to support the Congressional Democrats’ radical agenda of disenfranchisement of the working and middle classes who are the backbone of our community. Combined with his unwillingness to address the bigotry in his party by some of its members, New York’s 11th Congressional District needs new leadership,” a statement from Saldino’s campaign said.

Saladino has nearly 2.5 million followers on YouTube and Facebook, as well as 82,000 on Twitter. According to a statement from his campaign, his work gets over one billion views on social media per year.

“My main goal is to give the forgotten borough, Staten Island, a voice. It is the only red district in all of New York City,” Saladino previously told The Gateway Pundit. “I want to fight against the opiod crisis that has plagued our city — mainly by giving our youth a sense of purpose by deregulation to promote small business and entrepreneurship.”