‘This is not an apology.’ AOC refuses lawmaker’s apology after reported vulgar comment
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York in the U.S. House of Representatives, said she won’t accept an apology from Rep. Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican. Yoho apologized on Wednesday for the “misunderstanding” of his remarks and for confronting Ocasio-Cortez outside the Capitol.
Yoho apologized on Wednesday for the “abrupt manner of the conversation I had” with Ocasio-Cortez, but said that “the offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleagues and if they were construed that way, I apologize for their misunderstanding.”
Ocasio-Cortez tweeted in response: “I will not teach my nieces and young people watching that this an apology, and what they should learn to accept. Yoho is refusing responsibility.”
She added that Yoho “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.”
In a confrontation overheard by a Hill reporter, Yoho reportedly said to Ocasio-Cortez that she was “disgusting” for saying the uptick in crime in New York is attributed to unemployment and poverty.
“You are out of your freaking mind,” Yoho said, according to The Hill. Ocasio-Cortez responded that he was being “rude.”
After the two separated, Yoho was reportedly joined by Rep. Roger Williams, a Texas Republican, and said “f------ b----,” The Hill reported.
“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote on Twitter. “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. But hey, ‘b*tches’ get stuff done.”
Ocasio-Cortez added in another tweet that Williams “joined in with Yoho.”
“Gotta love Republican courage from Rep @RogerWilliamsTX: when 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. (He’s lying, by the way. He joined in w/ Yoho),“ she wrote.
Heather Douglass, a spokeswoman for Williams, denied that the congressman from Texas heard the reported exchange between Ocasio-Cortez and Yoho, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“The Congressman did not participate in the exchange between Congressman Yoho and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, nor did he hear what was said in their conversation,” she said.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer has called for Yoho to be sanctioned by Congress over his alleged remarks.
Hoyer said that Yoho’s reported comments were “despicable” and “unacceptable,” The Hill reported.
“Mr. Yoho owes not only the congresswoman an apology, but also an apology on the floor of the House of Representatives,” Hoyer told reporters, according to The Hill. “It was the act of a bully. Bottom line, I think it was despicable conduct. It needs to be sanctioned.”
Ocasio-Cortez had addressed a spike in crime in New York — the reported cause of the exchange between she and Yoho — during a July Zoom conference, Newsweek reported.
“Why is this uptick in crime happening? Well, let’s think about it. Do we think this has to with the fact that there’s record unemployment in the United States right now?” Ocasio-Cortez asked.
“Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren’t paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent,” she added. “They need to feed their child and they don’t have money, so...they’re put in a position where they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.”
This story was originally published July 22, 2020 at 8:26 AM with the headline "‘This is not an apology.’ AOC refuses lawmaker’s apology after reported vulgar comment."