Democratic Illinois Rep. Sean Casten appeared to link gun ownership to “having small genitals” in comments he made during a virtual campaign event on Friday.

“If you are a constitutionalist, unless you’re a member of well-regulated militia, tell me why you need to own a gun, right? Having small genitals is not a sufficient reason to own a gun,” Casten said on a Zoom call with college students on Friday.

Casten’s Republican opponent, Jeanne Ives, posted a clip of Casten’s comments to YouTube on Tuesday. Casten’s campaign didn’t return the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.

“Sean Casten references Justice John Paul Stevens’ dissent for the minority in Heller v. DC, which established the individual right to self-protection. Since he likes history, John Paul Stevens – after he left the bench – wrote an op-ed calling for the abolition of the Second Amendment,” Ives campaign communications director Jeanne Murphy told the DCNF in an email.

“That is what Sean Casten is referring to, as he ridicules law-abiding firearms owners as just ‘guys with small genitals.’ Sean Casten sold himself to IL06 as moderate in 2018. He represents decent professional people,” Murphy continued. “In this clip, he takes a radical position and describes those who oppose him in the most offensive, degrading terminology that he can possibly think of. Sean Casten has shown us who he is – an extremist, and what he wants – to abolish freedoms and make government your keeper. Our question to voters: Is that what you want?”