After explaining to his audience that putting Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan in the White House would result in “real mean” engaging in foreign policy, a Republican congressional candidate suggested the current wave of turmoil in the Middle East happened because “girly men” currently occupy the White House.

North Carolina State Sen. David Rouzer, the GOP nominee to challenge eight-term Democratic incumbent Rep. Mike McIntyre for the state’s 7th congressional district, made the statement during a Sunday speech before the Tea Party Express in Wilmington, N.C.