Democratic rep jokes about withholding Lysol shipments to Kentucky in swipe at McConnell

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Rep. Tom Malinowski, D-N.J., joked during a recent livestream with constituents that a county in his district should withhold shipments of Lysol disinfectant to the state of Kentucky until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., relents in his opposition to Democrat-backed vote-by-mail measures amid the coronavirus pandemic.

"A fun fact about Somerset County -- we make 100 percent of the national supply of Lysol disinfectant," Malinowski said in the video, posted by conservative Garden State political blog "SaveJersey.com."

"I thought about using that with, like Mitch McConnell," he went on. "Like, 'Hey, you know, we're going to hold up the Lysol to Kentucky until you pass our election security bill.'"

Lysol parent company Reckitt Benckiser has a plant in Hillsborough Township, N.J.

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Malinowski noted that he was seeing some "thumbs up" from constituents participating in the livestream, but then clarified, "I think that's a fantasy and I don't think it's going to work that way."

The National Republican Congressional Committee blasted Malinowski's comments as "disgusting."

"[Tom Malinowski] admitted he's fantasized about withholding coronavirus-killing disinfectants from Kentuckians to stick it to [McConnell]," they wrote on Twitter Thursday.

New Jersey's 7th District is one of many on House Republicans' radar for 2020, having been represented by GOP moderate Rep. Leonard Lance, R-N.J., for 10 years before his defeat by Malinowski in 2018.

On Thursday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. crticized Democrats for trying to include funding for "vote-by-mail" initiatives in a coronavirus aid bill.

"You want to hold up the bill because you want to change election law for November, because you think that gives you some political benefit?” McCarthy told reporters, according to Politico. "That's disgusting to me."

Last year, Malinowski was criticized for defending the presence of illegal immigrants in the country.

"Who do you think is mowing our beautiful lawns?" he said at the time in a video obtained by the Washington Examiner. "There are a lot of jobs in our community, that like it or not, for better or for worse, Americans are not willing to take."

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"There’s nothing funny about a member of Congress threatening to withhold vital supplies from Kentuckians during a deadly outbreak,” Republican Party of Kentucky spokesman Mike Lonergan told SaveJersey.com Friday. “At a time when families and communities across the country are suffering, people are coming together to fight the coronavirus. This Democrat congressman’s threats need and deserve to be condemned.

"As senior members of Malinowski’s party, and holding or seeking high office in Kentucky, [Gov.] Andy Beshear, [U.S. Senate candidate] Amy McGrath and [Rep.] John Yarmuth need to speak out against their fellow Democrat’s disgusting rhetoric," Lonergan added.

Fox News' Joseph A. Wulfsohn contributed to this report.