Senator Jon Tester (D-MT) offered up some advice to the Democrats vying to challenge President Donald Trump in 2020: Don’t be afraid to punch back.

Tester advised the candidates on Thursday’s “Morning Joe” on MSNBC to not take “the bait” of Trump’s “racism” in his feud with the four progressive congresswomen known as “The Squad,” but said to “punch him in the face.”

“I think you don’t take the bait that President Trump came out here,” Tester told host Joe Scarborough. “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 situation that’s down there.”

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

Follow Trent Baker on Twitter @MagnifiTrent