AOC called ‘f---ing b--ch’ by Rep. Ted Yoho after spat on Capitol steps
Watch your mouth, Florida Man.
A Republican congressman from the Sunshine State reportedly called Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a nasty misogynistic epithet on the steps of the U.S. Capitol earlier this week, sparking demands for an apology and official action against the crude lawmaker.
According to a reporter from The Hill who overheard the exchange, Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) confronted Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) outside the Capitol in between votes Monday and called her “disgusting” for suggesting that a recent spike in New York City crime could be attributed to hungry parents shoplifting food for their families.
Ocasio-Cortez reportedly fired back by calling Yoho “rude.”
“F---ing b---ch,” Yoho was then overheard saying as he walked off.
Ocasio-Cortez apparently didn’t hear Yoho’s offensive remark.
But she punched back at him in a string of tweets Tuesday.
“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday,” she wrote. “Believe it or not, I usually get along fine with my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door. But hey, ‘b----es’ get stuff done.”
Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic colleagues excoriated Yoho and demanded he issue a formal apology.
“Mr. Yoho owes not only the congresswoman an apology, but also an apology on the floor of the House of Representatives,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) said. “We need to pursue this kind of conduct, and make it very clear, it is unacceptable. It was the act of a bully.”
Hoyer didn’t rule out official sanctions against Yoho.
“Bottom line, I think it was despicable conduct that needs to be sanctioned,” he said.
Hoyer did not say precisely how to punish Yoho, but among the options is a formal censure vote on the floor.
A spokesman for Yoho did not return a request for comment on Tuesday.
Rep. Roger Williams (R-Texas) was with Yoho when he verbally attacked Ocasio-Cortez outside the Capitol.
But the Texas Republican claimed he didn’t hear what the beef was about.
“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 told The Hill. “I don’t know what their topic was. There’s always a topic, isn’t there?”
Ocasio-Cortez said Williams had actually joined Yoho in shouting at her.
“What’s wild to me, Roger Williams, is why would you blatantly lie to a reporter who saw this exchange? You were yelling at me too, about ‘throwing urine,‘” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted at the congressman.
A spokeswoman for Ocasio-Cortez declined to comment on what the context was of Williams’ alleged remarks about urine. A representative for Williams did not return a request for comment.
A number of Ocasio-Cortez’s male colleagues wondered why Yoho has never accosted them in similar ways.
“I have suggested the same thing that AOC has poverty and unemployment lead to crime,” tweeted Rep. Ruben Gallego (D-Ariz.). “Weird neither Yoho or any other member has ever talked to me that way.”