NYC mayor hopeful Bo Dietl said black female judge looked like Chirlane McCray

Impact

This is worse than a case of mistaken identity. 

New York City mayoral hopeful Bo Dietl, a Democrat, said Wednesday he knew he'd lose his court bid to run for office because the judge deciding the case "looked like" Mayor Bill de Blasio's wife Chirlaine McCray, the New York Daily News reported. 

"First of all, the judge looked like Chirlane de Blasio," Dietl said during a candidate screening hosted by the Manhattan Republican Party, according to the Daily News. "And as soon as I saw her, as soon as I saw her I knew I had a problem."

Chirlane McCray goes by her maiden name.

Dietl planned to run as a Democrat in November's mayoral election, but checked two boxes on his candidate registration form, which meant he had to go to court for the right to run. 

Craig Barritt/Getty Images

When asked why the judge's appearance would matter, Dietl said the judge "looked like her sister," referring to McCray. 

Dietl, a retired cop, said he "didn't mean it to be racist" when he made the comments. 

"She's a Democratic appointee also and then she knocked me off the line, that's what I meant," he said. "It's not supposed to be a racist thing, and that's not what it's supposed to be. She does look like Chirlane de Blasio." 

Dietl then urged reporters to Google a picture of the judge. The Daily News did not specify which judge oversaw Dietl's court case, but reported that because Dietl cannot run as a Democrat, he is asking Republicans to let him run as one of them. 

De Blasio's campaign responded to Dietl's outburst in a statement. 

"Shame on Bo for going full Trump, shame on the rest of the Republicans for staying silent," Dan Levitan, de Blasio's campaign spokesman, said. 

No word yet on whether the judge also resembles Beyoncé Knowles, Viola Davis or Serena Williams' unborn child