The House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee hearing ended abruptly on Tuesday after Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) was called “Mr.” by Rep. Sarah McBride (d-del.), the first transgender person to be elected to Congress.
Self, who chairs the European subcommittee, introduced McBride as “Delaware Assemblyman” at a hearing on arms management and US support for Europe. McBride responded by calling Self “Madame Chair.”
McBride made a statement, ranking member Bill Keating (D-Mass.) was inserted and asked himself to repeat his introduction.
“Mr. Chair, you are in no particular order,” Keating said. “Mr. Speaker, do you have no good sense? I mean, I've come to know you a little bit, but this is not decent.”
“We will continue this hearing,” the self replied.
“You won't continue with me unless you introduce it to a legitimately elected representative in the right way,” Keating said.
The self then postponed the hearing.
in Post to social platform xSelf said, “It is a US policy to recognize two genders, male and female.”
A Keating and McBride spokesperson did not immediately return a request for comment.
McBride's intentional misunderstanding of herself isn't the first time a First-term Congressman has faced a jab from a Republican colleague over her identity. On February 7th, ahead of McBride's first floor speech, Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) introduced McBride as a “Delaware gentleman.”
McBride brushed off Miller's introduction. “FWIW, there's a speech that after being recognized by the acting speaker, it's far more worthy of the watch than the 15-second video I'm being called out.” She wrote in X The introductory video has now gone viral.
Other House GOP members called McBride “men” on social media and moved to ban her from the women's toilet on Capitol's property. In interviews and social media posts, McBride calls her Republican and the trans community targeting “an attempt to divert her from issues such as rising costs of living.”
“We all believe that attempts to attack vulnerable communities are not only mean, but actually attempts to turn them in the wrong direction,” McBride told CBS News' Face the Nation. In an interview in November.
Still, McBride shows his willingness to work with Republicans in Congress. She, along with Rep. Young Kim, a California Republican, introduced her first bill, to tackle fraud in the credit repair industry.
