Sarah McBride says Arminio’s conduct wasn’t “right or appropriate” but that his removal wasn’t at her request
Sarah McBrideDemocratic U.S. representative for Delaware and Arminio’s opponent, quoted by Delaware Public Media
Delaware Public Media reported McBride’s account of why she asked that Arminio not be removed. She said that allowing people to speak lets them “show you who they are,” that Arminio was “showing himself to be not serious in this debate,” and that people like that in Washington are trying to “get attention [and] go viral.” She said she has “thick skin” and that this “doesn’t mean what he was doing or saying was right or appropriate,” but that she wanted it clear that his removal “was not a byproduct of my request.”
“I strongly believe that when you allow people to show you who they are they will do so, and I think my opponent was showing himself to be not serious in this debate … I've dealt with people like that in Washington, I know what they're trying to do: They're trying to get attention [and] go viral … I have thick skin; I can handle things. That doesn't mean what he was doing or saying was right or appropriate... but I thought it was important to make clear that his removal from the stage was not a byproduct of my request.”
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Where this statement fits
Did Joe Arminio’s misgendering of Sarah McBride warrant his removal from a Delaware candidate forum?
On September 17, 2026, at a candidates forum at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Wilmington, Joseph Arminio, the Republican nominee for Delaware’s at-large U.S. House seat, referred to his opponent, Rep. Sarah McBride, with male terms, including “his” in his opening statement, which the audience met with boos, and “gentlemen” later. McBride is the first openly transgender member of Congress. After the first instance the moderator, Ken Grant, told Arminio: “This is your final warning. If you fail to show respect to anyone else on this stage, you will be asked to leave.” Arminio said in a later answer that he had “committed an error.” After the second instance his microphone was cut and he was removed. McBride said on stage that she did not want Arminio to be unable to speak. Mike Katz, the Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, who was on the same stage, has said he called for Arminio’s removal, and afterward called on him to withdraw from the race. Grant later said the rule was applied “as they would have been for any candidate, of any party, on any subject.” Whether Arminio’s conduct warranted his removal from the forum, and whether it warrants his withdrawal from the race, is the matter in dispute. In his first public statement since the forum, issued September 22, Arminio said he appreciated McBride defending his freedom of speech and that he is “a firm supporter of freedom of speech and the Constitution in its entirety.”
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Answering a question on health care, Arminio says “gentlemen like the two here on this, up here with me on the Democratic Party, and in the Republican Party,” then “may I finish please?” The moderator says he was warned and asks for the microphone to be cut. Rep. Sarah McBride says “Listen, I just want to say here, I don't want this gentleman to not be able to have the ability to…” and is cut off by a call to remove Arminio, which Mike Katz has said he made from the stage. Arminio says “I appreciate that” and the forum continues without him. The recording's fixed camera does not show whom Arminio gestured toward; The Philadelphia Inquirer, WDEL and Spotlight Delaware report that he pointed at McBride and Sen. Chris Coons.
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About this source
Delaware Public Media's report. It quotes McBride, and attributes to remarks she made to the outlet after the forum her statement that Arminio's removal “was not a byproduct of my request.” It reports that Arminio “apologized” after the first remark; the recording captures him acknowledging an error and does not include an apology.
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About this source
WHYY's report. It says the forum was co-sponsored by the Jewish Federation of Delaware and the Wilmington Chapter of Hadassah, quotes Katz's apology and statement, and says McBride's office referred it to her posted statement.
Before the quotation
On stage, as Arminio’s microphone was being cut, McBride said: “Listen, I just want to say here, I don’t want this gentleman to not be able to have the ability to…” and was interrupted by a call to remove him.
After the quotation
McBride went on to answer the next question, on prior authorization, and in her closing statement referred to “politicians who want to create fights on petty, stupid things” and “people who want to go viral,” without naming Arminio. Delaware Public Media attributes the last passage to remarks she made to it after the forum; it does not say where the earlier passages were said.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
On Arminio’s use of male terms for McBride at the forum after correction and warning, and his removal for it, McBride takes both sides. She says what Arminio was doing or saying was not “right or appropriate,” a criticism of the conduct, and says he was showing himself “not serious in this debate.” She also asked on stage that he not be removed and says the removal was not a byproduct of her request, so she does not endorse the sanction the conduct drew. The closest competing labels are condemns, which loses because she opposes the removal, and minimizes, which loses because she says the conduct was not right or appropriate rather than downplaying it. Her September 18 post is recorded separately.
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More from this case
Read the full caseArminio invokes free speech in later response to the candidates-forum incident
“I myself am a firm supporter of freedom of speech and the Constitution in its entirety. That, of course, extends to one’s right to assert the “gender identity” of one’s choosing, as well as to assert the facts as one sees them.”Read statement
Delaware Republican Party says no forum should “substitute enforced language for open political argument”
Delaware Republican Party
“Delawareans deserve a real debate, not a debate that ends the moment a Republican nominee refuses to recite the other side’s talking points. We stand with the First Amendment. Candidates should be able to speak, voters should be able to hear them, and no forum should substitute enforced language for open political argument.”Read statement
Nancy Mace calls Arminio’s removal “The Left policing biology and speech”
“The Left policing biology and speech...”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Sarah McBride says Arminio’s conduct wasn’t “right or appropriate” but that his removal wasn’t at her request". First published: 2026-09-20. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1236-delaware-public-media-reported-mcbride-s-account-of