'My parents did not raise me to accept abuse from men': AOC slams Republican congressman Ted Yoho for showing no remorse after he 'put his finger in my face' and called her a 'f***ing b***h'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tore into Republican Ted Yoho on the House floor Thursday after he called her a 'f***ing b***h' on the steps of the Capitol Monday - saying he 'accosted' her and slamming his grinning non-apology the previous day.
The Democratic congresswoman made a personal statement accusing him of showing 'no remorse' in his statement 'apologizing' Wednesday - when he denied abusing her and said he 'could not apologize for my passion.'
In a fiery and at times emotional speech, and speaking surrounded by other women from the Democratic caucus, she said that she was younger than Yoho's daughters but was 'dehumanized' by him.
'My parents did not raise me to accept abuse from men,' Ocasio-Cortez asserted during her remarks, where she repeated the vulgar phrase used by the Florida rep during the exchange.
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, also reiterated that she does not believe Yoho, 65, has truly apologized for 'accosting' her on the steps of the Capitol, where she claims he called her 'crazy,' 'dangerous' and put his finger in her face.
Yoho, a former veterinarian who is retiring from Congress this year, has three children, a son who is 30 and two daughters who are 32 and 33-years-old.
'Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I'm two years younger than Yoho's youngest daughter,' Ocasio-Cortez said during her floor remarks. 'I am someone's daughter too.'
'My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter,' she said, appearing to get choked up. 'My mother got to see Mr. Yoho's disrespect on the floor of the House toward me on television.'
'And I'm here because I have to show my parents that I'm their daughter,' she said, adding they raised her not to take abuse.
The New York City representative was recognized for up to one hour on the House floor as she requested time to speak on a 'question of personal privilege' in order to address the incident.
A reporter with The Hill had revealed on a Tuesday article how he overheard Yoho confronting Ocasio-Cortez on the staircase of the east side of the Capitol on Monday while he was leaving from a vote and she was arriving.
Representative Alexadria Ocasio-Cortez took to the House floor Thursday for hour-long remarks where she addressed an incident where a Republican representative called her a 'f***ing b***h'
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, also brought up Yoho's family, saying 'I'm two years younger than Yoho's youngest daughter, adding: 'I am someone's daughter too'
His family: Yoho has one son, Tyer, and two daughters Katie and Lauren. (bottom left-right: Lauren Chalmers, 32, Katie Yoho, 33, Carolyn Yoho, 65, and brother Tyler, 30, rear beside Ted Yoho)
According to the reporter, Yoho called Ocasio-Cortez 'disturbed' and 'out of your freaking mind' regarding her comments linking an uptick in crime in New York City to the coronavirus pandemic leading to a spike in unemployment.
The representative for New York's 14th congressional district, which includes parts of Queens and The Bronx, said every woman has had to deal with this sort of abuse from men.
'I've tossed men out of bars that use language like Mr. Yoho,' she said.
The congresswoman said Yoho might as well have made the vulgar comments to every 'congresswoman and every woman in this country' when he spoke to her in that way.
'All of us have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape, at some point in our lives,' Ocasio-Cortez said.
'This is not new,' she shared, adding that 'dehumanizing language' toward women is also not a new phenomenon. 'And that is the problem.'
Ocasio-Cortez chastised her 35-year-senior colleague on Wednesday for a non-apology after Yoho said he 'cannot apologize for my passion.'
Yoho grinned through remarks on the House floor when he was called on to apologize after revelations of a profanity-laced confrontation surfaced.
'This is not an apology,' Ocasio-Cortez said of the supposed atonement, where Yoho can be seen smiling and reading prepared remarks.
Ocasio-Cortez said she was contemplating letting the whole exchange go and moving on, but changed her mind when she heard Yoho 'make excuses speak from the House floor on Wednesday.
She said she 'could not let that go' after she claims he 'made excuses for his behavior.'
'I could not allow victims of verbal abuse and worse to see that, to see that excuse, and to see our Congress accept it as legitimate and accept it as an apology,' Ocasio-Cortez said. 'And accept silence as a form of acceptance.'
She added: 'I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man, and accost women. You can have daughters, and accost women.'
Ocasio-Cortez's speech came after a far shorter address by Yoho on Wednesday - and one which he grinned through much of.
Yoho said in his remarks: 'I stand before you this morning to address the strife I injected into the already contentious Congress.'
Yoho said in prepared remarks after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called on him to apologize for his conduct from the House floor.
'I rise to apologize for the abrupt manner of the conversation I had with my colleague from New York,' the Florida Republican continued after House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called on him Tuesday to apologize for his conduct from the House floor.
'It is true we disagree on policies and visions for America, but that does not mean we should be disrespectful,' he continued, dismissing the aggressive ordeal as a 'misunderstanding.'
Ocasio-Cortez denounced Yoho's comments.
'Republican responds to calling a colleague 'disgusting' & a 'f—ing b***h' w/ 'I cannot apologize for my passion' and blaming others,' the progressive freshman congresswoman posted on Wednesday along with a clip of his remarks.
'I will not teach my nieces and young people watching that this an apology, and what they should learn to accept,' she continued, adding: 'Yoho is refusing responsibility.'
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez claimed Wednesday that Rep. Ted Yoho's remarks following a report that revealed he called her a 'f***ing b***h' are 'not an apology' - and she listed reasons she did not take it as such
She added that the Florida Republican didn't even use her name during his prepared remarks
Representative Ted Yoho refused during a House floor speech Wednesday to apologize for his 'passion' when confronting Ocasio-Cortez, which he dismissed as a 'misunderstanding'
Ocasio-Cortez condemned his non-apology, claiming 'Yoho is refusing responsibility' after confronting her on the Capitol stairs Monday
Ocasio-Cortez had rattled off reasons on Twitter Wednesday as to why she did not consider Yoho to be remorseful.
'- Does not apologize or name any action he did
- Does not accept responsibility
- Lies (this was not a 'conversation,' it was verbal assault)
- Distracts by making it abt poverty (ironically)
- Says everyone else is wrong and the incident never happened,' the New York City lawmaker tweeted in list-form.
'He didn't even say my name,' she concluded in another post.
In response to the profanity-laced insult, which took place on the east steps of the Capitol Monday, Ocasio-Cortez shot back in a tweet on Tuesday: 'B*****s get stuff done.'
The progressive New York City lawmaker was ascending the stairs to cast her vote on the same day the House stood in a moment of silence to honor the late Rep. John Lewis after he died Friday months after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer when she was approached by Yoho.
'You are out of your freaking mind,' Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez in the brief interaction, according to The Hill.
Yoho also called AOC, as she was dubbed early on in her political career, 'disgusting' for recent comments where she said the spike in New York City crime in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic are due to increased levels of poverty and unemployment.
He claimed Wednesday that he felt the need to approach Ocasio-Cortez because of his 'passion' for the topic.
But Ruben Gallego, a Democratic representative from Arizona, defended his colleague on Twitter Tuesday, claiming he has made the same claims and not been accosted in the way Ocasio-Cortez was.
'I have suggested the same thing that @aoc has poverty & unemployment lead to crime,' he claimed. 'Weird neither Yoho or any other member has ever talked to me that way.'
Ocasio-Cortez detailed to Yahoo News Tuesday that the representative put his finger in her face.
Yoho insisted to the Daily Caller that he did not use the vernacular outlined by The Hill.
Instead, he said he used the word 'bulls**t,' and said Ocasio-Cortez is trying to use the brief exchange for her personal benefit.
'He did not call Rep. Ocasio-Cortez what has been reported in The Hill or any name for that matter,' Yoho's office told the right-leaning media outlet. 'It sounds better for the Hill newspaper and gets more media attention to say he called her a name - which he did not do.'
'It is unfortunate that Rep. Ocasio-Cortez is using this exchange to gain personal attention,' his office added.
'Instead,' it insisted, 'he made a brief comment to himself as he walked away summarizing what he believes her polices to be: bulls**t.'
Yoho's remarks and demands for an apology came after the 65-year-old retiring lawmakers called his Democratic colleague, 30-year-old Ocasio-Cortez, a 'f***ing b***h' during a heated exchange at the Capitol on Monday
The progressive 30-year-old congresswoman said Yoho put his finger in her face as he called her 'disgusting' and 'out of your freaking mind' for linking a surge in crime in New York City on rising unemployment levels in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic
She also shot back on Twitter Tuesday, claiming, 'B*****s get stuff done,' and asserting she usually gets along with her GOP colleagues
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called on Yoho Tuesday to personally apologize to Ocasio-Cortez, and demanded he also make amends for his comments in a speech on the House floor
'He kept muttering insults at me as I was walking away, but I didn't try to make it out,' she explained. 'I thought he had said something but didn't assume that's what he said.'
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer called the behavior 'despicable' and demanded Tuesday that Yoho make a personal amends as well as a speech on the House floor apologizing to Ocasio-Cortez.
'Mr. Yoho owes not only the congresswoman an apology, but also an apology on the floor of the House of Representatives,' Hoyer told reporters.
'It was the act of a bully,' the Maryland Democrat continued of Yoho. 'Bottom line, I think it was despicable conduct. It needs to be sanctioned.'
Ocasio-Cortez told Yoho, who was joined by Texas Rep. Roger Williams on the Capitol stairs, that he was being 'rude.'
As the two walked away from each other, Yoho said audibly: 'F***ing b***h.'
She later expanded on her response on Twitter following the release of the report over the exchange.
'I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation's Capitol yesterday,' the social-media active lawmaker posted Tuesday morning. 'Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues.'
'We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door,' she asserted.
'But hey, 'b*tches' get stuff done,' Ocasio-Cortez quipped, adding a shrugging emoji.
The Hill reported that Williams was in ear-shot of the whole back-and-forth, but when approached about the specifics of the comments said he wasn't paying attention to it at the time.
'I was actually thinking, as I was walking down the stairs, I was thinking about some issues I've got in my district that need to get done,' Williams said. 'I don't know what their topic was. There's always a topic, isn't there?'
Ocasio-Cortez wasn't buying the excuse.
'Gotta love Republican courage from Rep @RogerWilliamsTX: when he undeniably sees another man engaged in virulent harassment of a young woman, just pretend you never saw it in the most cartoonish manner possible and keep pushing,' she tweeted, adding in a parentheses, '(He's lying, by the way. He joined in w/ Yoho)'.
'What's wild to me @RogerWilliamsTX is why would you blatantly lie to a reporter who saw this exchange?' she continued in calling out the Republican representative. 'You were yelling at me too, about 'throwing urine.'
Ocasio-Cortez explained the incident in more detail in a direct message with Yahoo News on Twitter.
'When I pass other members on the steps, regardless of party, I usually nod or say hello if I'm able,' the progressive lawmaker detailed. 'Out of nowhere, Yoho comes up to me and puts his finger in my face and flies off in a rage.'
'He started going off about shootings and bread and nonsense, calling me crazy, shameful, out of my mind, etc.,' she continued.
'At first I tried to talk to him, but that just made him yell over me more,' she claimed.
'Williams then started joining in, yelling things at me and said something about throwing urine — I don't know what that was about,' she added. 'I said he was being rude and that this was unbelievable and started to walk away.'
She asserted that it was Yoho who called her 'rude' and not the other way around, and said following the interaction she 'just kept walking to my vote.'
Texas Republican Rep. Roger Williams was accompanying Yoho down stairs on the east side of the Capitol after a vote when they confrontation occured. But he asserted he was not paying attention to the back-and-forth: 'I was actually thinking, as I was walking down the stairs... I don't know what their topic was'
Ocasio-Cortez didn't buy Williams excuse, claiming he 'joined in w/ Yoho' in 'harassing' her
'Why would you blatantly lie to a reporter who saw this exchange?' she questioned of the Texas lawmaker, asserting he was yelling at her about 'throwing urine'
Yoho has served in Congress since 2013, but in December 2019 the Florida lawmaker announced he will not seek reelection in November.
He has been married to his wife since he was 19-years-old, and hey have three children together – two daughters and one son.
His daughters – Lauren, 32, and Katie, 33 – are just a few years older than Ocasio-Cortez.
Yoho's comments when confronting AOC were about remarks she made earlier this month during a virtual town hall where she defended the rise in crime in New York City as people 'stealing bread to feed their children during record unemployment.'
Police data shows that shootings in the city last month were up 130 per cent this year – from 89 shootings last year to 205 this year.
But Ocasio-Cortez, who represents parts of Queens and The Bronx, questioned: 'Do we think this has to do with the fact that there's record unemployment in the United States right now?'
'Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren't paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent,' she continued. 'And so they go out, and they need to feed their child and they don't have money so they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry.'
The comments were widely chastised by Republicans, who pointed to the rise in violent crime rather than shoplifting or petty theft.
'That kind of confrontation hasn't ever happened to me — ever,' Ocasio-Cortez, who is often criticized publicly by GOP lawmakers, told The Hill of the in-person interaction. 'I've never had that kind of abrupt, disgusting kind of disrespect levied at me.'
Yoho, however, had 'no comment' on the matter.
'My parents did not raise me to accept abuse from men': AOC slams Republican congressman Ted Yoho for showing no remorse after he 'put his finger in my face' and called her a 'f***ing b***h'
!['My parents did not raise me to accept abuse from men': AOC slams Republican congressman Ted Yoho for showing no remorse after he 'put his finger in my face' and called her a 'f***ing b***h']()
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