Soaring energy prices have become a leading issue ahead of the midterm elections, so it was almost inevitable that the two candidates in Maryland’s First Congressional District would be asked to address them in their debate on Tuesday night.
But that’s where the night took a rough turn for Representative Andy Harris, a Republican and the chair of the House Freedom Caucus, who is seeking his ninth term.
“The facts are: Diesel prices have gone up. There’s no question about it. Why has it gone up? Because the Democrats have environmental regulations,” Mr. Harris said. Just then, some people in the debate hall interrupted with laughter and groans. His Democratic opponent, Dan Schwartz, had just laced into the Trump administration for making a deal with Russia to buy its diesel in an effort to lower prices, which have surged for American consumers amid the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran, and no one interrupted him.
“See, this is the problem,” Mr. Harris told the audience. “You say you all believe in the First Amendment, but only if you agree with me.”
Singling out one of the crowd members who interrupted him, Mr. Harris capped his outburst by saying: “You should let me finish the sentence, ma’am. You’re rude.”
Glenna Heckathorn, the president of the League of Women Voters of the Mid-Shore, the organization that hosted the debate, asked Mr. Schwartz and Mr. Harris to urge their supporters in the hall to be civil.
While Mr. Schwartz did so, Mr. Harris said that he didn’t need to address his supporters.
“My people aren’t interfering with Mr. Schwartz,” Mr. Harris said. “It’s only one way.”
Mr. Harris’s turbulent evening continued after the debate ended, when he met reporters outside the hall to take questions. Many of them were recording the interview on their phones. Mr. Harris singled out one reporter, who asked a question about his debate answer on the Iran war, for “violating the law” by recording him without his consent.
She pointed out that she was not the only one recording, and that they were in a public forum where permission to record was not legally required.
“I actually know the law well,” Mr. Harris said. When the reporter persisted, he instructed someone offscreen to confiscate her camera. “In fact,” he said, “get an officer in here.”
He then appeared to storm out of the hall without taking any of the reporters’ questions.
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