Trump Remembers Late Congressman Doug LaMalfa: ‘A Fantastic Person’

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump remembered the late Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) on Tuesday at the House Republican retreat at the Kennedy Center after news of the California congressman’s death broke.

Trump noted that LaMalfa passed away on Monday at the top of his remarks on Tuesday.

“I want to express our tremendous sorrow at the loss of a great member, great, great, great member, Congressman Doug LaMalfa, who passed away yesterday, as you probably have heard,” the president said.

“He was the leader of the Western Caucus, a fierce champion on California water issues. He was great on water… ‘Release the water!’ he’d scream out,” he added. “And a true defender of American children; he was a defender of everybody, and our hearts go out to his wife, Jill, and his entire family.”

Trump emphasized that he never had to call LaMalfa late at night or in the early morning while helping House Republican leadership whip votes, stating “he wasn’t a three o’clock in the morning person,” unlike some members whom he would have to call at Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) request ahead of a vote.

“I was really saddened by his passing, and was thinking about not even doing the speech in his honor, but then I decided that I have to do it in his honor. I’ll do it in his honor, because he would have wanted it that way,” the president went on to applause.

“He would have said, ‘Do that speech… Are you kidding me? Do the speech.’ Big guy, but he was a fantastic person. Man, that was a quick one… I don’t know quite yet what happened, but boy, it’s a tough one. He was just with us,” Trump added.

He stressed that LaMalfa “was our friend, all of us, every one of us.”

Trump also sent well wishes to Rep. Jim Baird (R-IN) and his wife, who are hospitalized after a car accident.

“I also want to send our best wishes to Congressman Jim Baird and his wife, who are recovering from a car accident. They’re going to be okay, but they had a pretty bad accident, and we’re praying that they get out of that hospital very quickly,” he said.

“He’s going to be fine, she’s going to be fine, but it was a bad accident,” he added.