Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-NY) was compelled to apologize and walk back his prior extreme rhetoric in which he asserted that former President Donald Trump needed to be "eliminated," according to The Hill.

Ironically, that incendiary remark came amid the New York congressman's complaints about Trump's "dangerous" rhetoric against his political foes.

Goldman, readers may recall, has long been in the virulently anti-Trump camp and even served as the lead counsel for House Democrats during the first failed impeachment trial of Trump before running for and winning election to Congress.

An apology for a "poor choice of words"

In a Monday morning tweet, Rep. Goldman said, "Yesterday on TV, I mistakenly used the wrong word to express the importance for America that Donald Trump doesn’t become President again."

"While he must be defeated, I certainly wish no harm to him and do not condone political violence," he added. "I apologize for the poor choice of words."

Judging by the comments in reply to that tweet, however, it appears that very few people actually believed or accepted Goldman's apology and the retraction of his prior anti-Trump statement.

"He has to be eliminated"

On Sunday, Rep. Goldman appeared on MSNBC's "Inside with Jen Psaki" and spoke with the former White House press secretary about several issues, including recently released audio of former President Trump discussing the January 6 Capitol riot with a reporter just a couple of months after that incident occurred.

The congressman accused Trump of having "riled up and excited" the crowd of his supporters who then protested and rioted in and around the U.S. Capitol building and suggested that Trump's words could potentially be used against him by prosecutors.

"But his rhetoric is really getting dangerous -- more and more dangerous," Goldman told Psaki. "We saw what happened on January 6 when he used his inflammatory rhetoric. Now, in his recent Truth Social posts, is incredibly, incredibly scary for anyone that might be trying to work in government."

"It is just unquestionable at this point that that man cannot see public office again," he added. "He is not only unfit, he is destructive to our democracy, and he has to be -- he has to be eliminated."

Goldman will receive the benefit of the doubt that would not be similarly extended to Trump

The Hill noted that it wasn't entirely clear what Rep. Goldman actually meant when he called for former President Trump to be "eliminated," as he did not elaborate. MSNBC host Psaki seemingly ignored what was said and moved on to another topic of discussion.

To be sure, the congressman could have simply been speaking of his desire to witness Trump's elimination from the realm of politics, but as the comments in reply to his apology and retraction made clear, that is not at all how his words were received.

Goldman will undoubtedly face some criticism and pushback from the American people over his ironically harsh rhetoric while complaining about Trump's rhetoric, but that is likely where any accountability will end as the media and his fellow Democrats will extend to Goldman a benefit of the doubt that most certainly would not be offered to Trump or any Republican politician aligned with him.