WASHINGTON (AP) – New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on Tuesday accused a fellow Republican of furiously harassing her off Capitol Hill for her progressive views in a meeting that a reporter said ended the congressman using a sexist insult. as he walked away.
House Democrat number two demanded that Florida Rep. Ted Yoho, one of the House’s most conservative members, apologize to Ocasio-Cortez, one of the House’s most progressive, for Monday’s confrontation. . A Yoho spokesman denied that the legislator had used a sexist insult, saying the Florida congressman had muttered “bull” to describe Ocasio-Cortez’s policies.
There was little sign of Yoho’s Republican colleagues rising up to defend him, and the House’s minority leader said he would speak to Yoho.
“We believe that everyone should show respect for each other,” Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Told reporters about the episode, which occurred during an election year in which partisan divisions have been affected.
In a tweet Tuesday, Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., said he had never spoken to Yoho “before he decided to harass me,” as they crossed paths on the outer steps of the Capitol during a vote.
“Believe it or not, I generally get along well with my fellow Republicans. We know how to review our legislative fight at the committee door. But hey, ‘b (asterisk) tches’ do things, ”he wrote, using one of the words Yoho allegedly used.
A journalist for The Hill newspaper witnessed the encounter, the newspaper said. According to the media outlet, Yoho approached Ocasio-Cortez and said that his recent comments connecting poverty to an increase in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic were “disgusting.”
“You’re out of your damn mind,” added Yoho. Ocasio-Cortez told Yoho that he was being “rude,” the article said.
The Hill said that when the two headed in opposite directions, Yoho made the sexist comment “to no one in particular.”
Walking with Yoho was Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, another conservative. Heather Douglass, a spokeswoman for Williams, said she did not listen to the exchange and “would have immediately condemned that kind of language towards any colleague.”
Ocasio-Cortez responded, saying that Williams was lying about not listening to the conversation and had even participated in it, making his own comment about “throwing urine.”
“When you undoubtedly see another man involved in the virulent harassment of a young woman, just pretend you never saw him in the most cartoonish way possible,” he wrote.
Yoho, 65, is a member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus and an enemy of Republican leaders who he considers too moderate as former President John Boehner, a Republican from Ohio. He will retire when his term ends in January.
Ocasio-Cortez, 30, is a high-profile front-line congresswoman whose vociferous support for proposals like the Green New Deal has earned her appearances in Republican campaign ads that make her a liberal villain.
Yoho spokesman Brian Kaveney said in an email Tuesday that Yoho “had a brief member-to-member conversation” and had not called Ocasio-Cortez a name. He wrote that Yoho called himself “bull—” to himself, “summarizing what he thinks his policies are.”
“It is regrettable that Representative Ocasio-Cortez is using this exchange for personal attention,” said Kaveny.
Kaveny did not immediately respond to a follow-up email asking if Yoho would apologize.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat, said Yoho’s comments were “despicable and unacceptable” and require an apology on the floor of the House. As of late Tuesday afternoon, there was no indication that this was happening.
“It was the act of a stalker, of a person who is the antithesis of the person we are honoring this week, John Lewis,” Hoyer said, referring to the Georgia Democratic and civil rights hero who died Friday. He said Yoho’s action was “despicable conduct and should be punished.”
Other Democrats in Congress huddled in defense of Ocasio-Cortez on Twitter.
Representative Rashida Tlaib, a Democrat from Michigan, who, like Ocasio-Cortez, is a member of the first-party “Squad” of women of color, wrote that Yoho had “perpetuated” the problem of violence against women with his “sexist” . verbal attack. “
Rep. Dean Phillips, a Democrat from Minnesota, tweeted that he, too, believes that poverty can cause crime and said, “I wonder why Rep. Yoho has not approached me on the steps of the Capitol with the same sentiment.”
