Republican House candidate Carl Paladino said on a radio show over the weekend that Attorney General Merrick Garland “probably should be executed” after the FBI searched Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.
“So we have a couple of unelected people who are running our government with an administration of people like Garland who should not only be impeached, he probably should be executed,” Paladino told Breitbart Radio host Matthew Boyle on Saturday, according to The Buffalo News.
He continued: “The guy is just lost. He’s a lost soul. He’s trying to get an image, and his methodology is just terrible. To raid the home of a former president is just … people are scratching their heads and they’re saying, ‘What is wrong with this guy?'”
When asked later in the interview to explain his suggestion that Garland be executed, Paladino claims he was not being serious.
“I’m just being facetious,” he said. “The man should be removed from office. He’s shows his incompetence. He wants to get his face in front of the people. And in short, he’s got some mettle to him, but his choice of issues and his choice of methodology is very sad. And then he wants to take full blame for it, you know he’ll stand there.”
Paladino’s comments come as threats against law enforcement have surged after the FBI executed a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago. Trump supporters have been calling for Garland to be assassinated in online right wing forums. Last week a supporter of the former president was killed during a shoot out with police after he attempted to breach a FBI field office in Cincinnati, Ohio with an AR-15 style rifle and a nail gun.
Paladino is running for the GOP nomination to represent New York’s 23rd congressional district in Congress. Rep. Elise Stefanik, the chair of the Republican House Conference has endorsed him.
