A Pennsylvania Republican aligned with President Donald Trump disrupted a Democratic fundraiser by calling a gay Black Democratic lawmaker a slur and falsely claiming he has AIDS, a witness said.
State Rep. Aaron Bernstine (R-PA) made the remarks Tuesday night at McGrath's Pub in Harrisburg about state Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta (D-PA) of Philadelphia, who was not at the bar, PennLive reported.
Bernstine, who represents parts of Butler and Lawrence counties north of Pittsburgh, did not respond to PennLive's request for comment. Kenyatta declined to comment.
Bernstine called Kenyatta a "gay, black [slur]" and jokingly asked whether anyone knew why Kenyatta was now "so skinny" before saying it was because he has AIDS, according to Michael Ford, the secretary-treasurer of the Pennsylvania Building and Construction Trades Council.
Kenyatta, who is openly gay and serves as a vice chair of the Democratic National Committee, has intentionally lost a significant amount of weight over the past few years, PennLive reported.
Ford said he and Bernstine "exchanged some words" as the Republican also insulted Robert Bair, the council's president, who was talking with other people at a nearby table and was not involved.
"You could say whatever you want about me and Rob and the building trades, but when you start talking about a guy that ain't even there in, like, a way that's really derogatory, that's not cool," Ford told PennLive.
"You can't talk like that to people or about people," Ford said. "It's terrible."
Ford and Bair both said the confrontation never turned physical.
"My guys all acted with dignity," Bair said. "They showed restraint."
A Democratic fundraiser was underway at the bar, and Ford said Bernstine appeared to be there only as "an agitator" and to be "intentionally disruptive." It was unclear what prompted Bernstine's remarks, PennLive reported.
Bernstine has stepped into Democratic Party business before, winning the party's 2018 nomination for his own seat through a write-in campaign after Democrats left their primary ballot line empty, the Butler Eagle reported.
He collected 505 write-in votes, defeating another write-in contender, and appeared on the November ballot as both the Republican and Democratic nominee, the newspaper reported.
House Democratic leaders said in a statement to PennLive on Wednesday night that the "reports of a member spewing hateful, vile language about another member are shocking, offensive and deeply disappointing."
"He should be ashamed of himself and apologize for his embarrassing and hateful behavior," the leaders said.
Last month, Bernstine drew criticism for a since-deleted comment about the late daughter of a Pennsylvania man who had insulted the late Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk, Primetimer reported.
The man, Mark Wiley, had criticized Kirk under a post from Bernstine's campaign Facebook page marking the first anniversary of Kirk's death, the outlet reported. The campaign page replied with a photo of Mark Wiley's daughter, Chloe Wiley, who died in April at 34.
"Don't worry about that guy… he has to lay next to this every night," the comment read, according to screenshots shared on Threads.
"That is my daughter you Tiny s— bag," Mark Wiley replied.
In 2017, Bernstine drew attention for a post on X, then known as Twitter, that appeared to threaten to drive over protesters who blocked a road with "negative intentions," PennLive reported. He told the Beaver County Times that liberal groups were exaggerating the post.
Three years later, a USA TODAY Network report revealed a Snapchat video in which Bernstine encouraged his then-5-year-old son to smoke a cigar and make disparaging comments about women.
Republican legislative leaders called the video "disgusting" and urged him to resign, and Bernstine later apologized for "jokes that went too far," PennLive reported.
In December 2023, after Colorado's Supreme Court barred Trump from that state's ballot, Bernstine joined Republican lawmakers in Georgia and Arizona in announcing legislation to remove then-President Joe Biden from their states' ballots, The National Desk reported.
"We have to fight back and fight fire with fire," Bernstine told Newsmax, according to the Bucks County Beacon.
The Beacon reported that Bernstine called the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol a "totally made up insurrection" and accused Biden of an "insurrection pouring across the border."
In January 2021, Bernstine had told KDKA the attack was "an absolute disgrace" while arguing against blaming Trump because "individuals are held accountable for their own actions."
Bernstine, who was first elected in 2016, is seeking re-election in November, according to PennLive and Primetimer.
