New York Rep. John Katko is in a war of words with the mayor of Syracuse over health care.

After Mayor Stephanie Miner joined protesters to call for Republicans to protect funding for Planned Parenthood, Katko’s office called the move “a desperate move by a failed politician,” cnycentral.com reported.

Miner said the remarks were out of character for Katko, who she said was a “man of integrity.”

“And what he did yesterday is not in keeping with who he is or in what he tells us he is,” she said. “But he can’t defend the partisanness and mean-spiritedness and the devastating impacts that what his party’s health care policy will do on the community.”

In turn, Miner, who is considered a prospective challenger to Katko, invited the congressman to a debate about health care.

But Katko’s office shot down the idea.

“Sadly, this type of failed leadership is what we have come to expect from Stephanie Miner,” a statement said. “Syracuse elected a Mayor, not a professional protester.”