Joe Biden's presidential campaign, in an attempt to garner some much-needed attention, has been working hard to pick a fight with Rudy Giuliani, but his last attack may have gone to far.

Biden has declared Giuliani unqualified to be present, and recently commented: “there’s only three things he mentions in a sentence: a noun and a verb and 9/11.”

Giuliani has recently been working 9/11 into answers to all sorts of questions, including a recent question about the HIV/AIDS epidemic. The Biden campaign sent out this example to the media along with two other examples. It's a reasonable criticism.

But it an obvious reference to Giuliani's history of performing in drag, the Biden press release ends by stating playfully: "In the spirit of Halloween, Rudy, if the dress fits, wear it.’’

Giuliani has been appearing in drag on and off for the past 10 years, including Inner Circle Press Dinners in 1997 and 2000 and episodes of Saturday Night Live. Giuliani offered once to appear in drag on the Showtime television series Queer as Folk, but that appearance never materialized. All this has not stopped Giuliani from reaching out to right-wing Republicans. Giuliani recently received an endorsement from the founder of the Christian Coalition, Pat Robertson.

The Biden comment, clearly meant to be humorous, marks the first time a presidential candidate has commented on Giuliani's drag performances, and quite frankly, it lowers the debate and takes away from Biden's more substantive criticism. Republican or Democrat, gender identity and expression, much like race, ethnicity, and gender, should never be a factor in which candidate you support. The top tier Democratic candidates would do well to learn from Biden's mistake and avoid these types of attacks.