JSFiddle - React, Tailwind, and code Playground

HTML

<a href="http://www.google.com" target="_blank" id="myLink" class="anyclass">test</a>

CSS

a{display : block;width 10px;height : 10px;background : red;}

JavaScript

$('#myLink').on("mousedown",doMouseDown);

function doMouseDown(e)
{
    e.stopImmediatePropagation();
    console.log("Mouse down");
    return true;
}