Republican U.S. House candidate Joe Arminio was asked to leave a forum for Delaware’s statewide candidates after he purposely misgendered his opponent, Rep. Sarah McBride (D), the first openly transgender member of the House of Representatives.
Arminio’s behavior was so douchey even the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate says he should drop out of the race (which McBride is going to win anyway).
The first time Republican US House candidate “Dr. Joe” Arminio referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D) as a man during Thursday’s debate at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville. He was warned for his comment. #netde pic.twitter.com/j4EaMOL84W
— Sean Greene (@SeanGreeneWDEL) September 18, 2026
From WDEL:
Republican “Dr. Joe” Arminio referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D) using the term “his” and then later a “gentleman” before he was asked to leave the candidates forum hosted by the Jewish Federation of Delaware at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville Thursday night.
At that point, the crowd of about 100 people largely started booing Arminio, who then finished,”I would like to show respect to the speaker, that would be nice.” McBride is the first openly transgender member of the US House.
Dr. Michael Katz, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate had his opening statement next, and addressed Arminio’s comments.
“I would like to apologize to everybody here and everybody else on this stage. As a physician, I believe in our common humanity and respect for each other. I feel that pain over those comments, and my apologies.”
Following the forum, Katz called for Arminio to exit the race.
It’s worth noting that McBride attempted to stop Arminio’s removal, but the hosts were done with him. This is Arminio’s first-ever political campaign.
Here’s the report from Philadelphia’s NBC News affiliate.
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