Delaware GOP House candidate pressured by fellow party member to drop out of race after transphobic comments

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Dr. Mike Katz, the Republican candidate for Delaware’s U.S. Senate seat, is calling on his fellow party member Joseph Arminio to withdraw from the U.S. House of Representatives race after Arminio repeatedly misgendered incumbent U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride at a candidate forum Thursday night.

In a statement, Katz said that public forums should be focused on issues and “be grounded in civility, basic decency, and mutual respect.”

Katz also wrote that people can disagree on policy, but it does not serve as grounds to be disrespectful toward opponents.

“When someone seeking public office is given an opportunity to correct his conduct, acknowledges his mistake, receives an explicit warning, and then repeats that conduct, it raises serious concerns about the standards we should expect from those who seek to represent us,” Katz wrote.

Arminio was removed from the forum, co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Delaware and the Wilmington Chapter of Hadassah, following his comments towards McBride, who is the first openly transgender woman elected to Congress and was at the forum.

While addressing the crowd, Arminio used the incorrect pronouns to refer to McBride.

The forum’s moderator issued a warning to Arminio after he initially misgendered McBride, stating that if he didn’t show respect to the fellow candidate that he would be asked to leave.

Katz responded to Arminio’s initial remarks directly on stage.

“I would like to apologize to everybody here and everybody else on this stage that you had to hear this. As a physician, I believe in our common humanity and respect for each other. I feel that pain over those comments, and my apologies,” Katz said at the forum.

Arminio said that he had “committed an error,” but again misgendered McBride, and he was told to leave. McBride attempted to intervene so Arminio could stay.

“I want to say here, I don’t want this gentleman to not be able to have the ability to [speak],” McBride said before Katz interrupted and called for Arminio’s removal.

In McBride’s closing statement at the forum, she addressed “politicians who want to create fights,” and said she is focused on serving Delaware.

“So long as there is air in my lungs and breath in my body, I will make sure I lead in a way that seeks to summon our collective better angels as Delawareans and as Americans,” she said.

She later issued a statement on the matter.

“Nothing — and certainly not politicians seeking to go viral — will ever distract me from my laser focus on lowering the cost of gas, groceries, housing, childcare, and healthcare,” the statement read.

McBride’s team referred WHYY News to the congresswoman’s posted statement and declined to comment further. Katz and Arminio could not be reached for further comment by the time of publication.