Outgoing Democratic Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe told a national television audience he'd knock President Donald Trump to the floor if the president ever tried to intimidate him.

During an interview Thursday on MSNBC's "Hardball," Chris Matthews asked McAuliffe how he would respond if Trump tried to intimidate him during a debate by hovering over him, as he did in a 2016 debate with Hillary Clinton, a close friend of McAuliffe's.

McAuliffe responded: "You'd have to pick him up off the floor."

McAuliffe, who was a top Democratic fundraiser before being elected governor in 2013, has been mentioned as a possible presidential candidate.

McAuliffe has been a vocal critic of Trump, particularly after Trump said "both sides" shared blame after white nationalists and counterprotestors clashed during a deadly rally in Charlottesville in August.