Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) railed against a Maryland reporter on Tuesday evening after he finished a debate with his 2026 Democratic challenger, Dan Schwartz, telling the journalist she could not record him during a press gaggle.
“You do not have my permission to record. If you record, we will refer you to the prosecutor,” Harris told a reporter for the Capital News Service during the gaggle, according to a video published by The Baltimore Banner.
When the reporter, named Cat Murphy, pushed back and said, “Everyone in here is recording.” Harris responded, “But you are not allowed to,” while pointing at her.
“We are in a two-party state; you are not allowed to,” Harris said. “I refuse to give you permission to record.”
The back-and-forth between the media and Harris came after a debate between Harris and Schwartz in their race to represent Maryland’s 1st Congressional District on the Eastern Shore. The debate, moderated by the League of Women Voters in Cambridge, Maryland, included a moment in which an audience member interrupted Harris’s answer by laughing at him.
“The facts are that diesel prices have gone up. There’s no question about it. Why has it gone up? Because the Democrats’ environmental regulations have not —,” Harris said, before a woman in the audience interrupted him with loud laughter.
Harris told the woman in the audience to let him finish his sentence and added, “You are rude.” The debate moderator then asked the two candidates to ensure their supporters in the audience were civil during the debate, according to Maryland Matters.
“It’s very important that you guys are able to hear from both of us tonight,” Schwartz said to his supporters in the audience.
Following the debate, in which the candidates discussed topics such as energy prices and infrastructure, Harris gaggled with reporters, during which his interaction with Murphy occurred.
Other journalists at the gaggle chimed in to support Murphy, with another reporter saying to Harris, “With due respect, this is a public forum.” Harris then questioned the journalists, asking, “Do you know the law?” and maintained that as a legislator, he “actually know
“Get an officer in here,” Harris said. “She’s violating the law on two-party recording.”
Maryland’s law on two-party recording consent applies to private, in-person conversations, according to the national Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, a legal nonprofit group.
Harris’s seat is listed as a Solid Republican seat by the Cook Political Report. The eight-term incumbent won his last election in 2024 by over 22 percentage points and has led in the limited polling on the 2026 race against Schwartz.
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Harris’s seat had been an eye of Democrats seeking to redistrict Maryland, but the effort failed in the state legislature.
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Harris’s campaign for comment.
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[ H/T Washington Examiner ]
