WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., said Tuesday that a House Republican aggressively confronted her outside of the U.S. Capitol on Monday in which he reportedly called her a “f—ing bitch.”
“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday. 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 tweeted.
“But hey, ‘b*tches’ get stuff done,” added Ocasio-Cortez, who retweeted a report by The Hill newspaper about their exchange a day earlier.
According to The Hill, Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., approached Ocasio-Cortez as she was walking up the Capitol steps to cast a vote on the House floor and told her she was “disgusting” for recently suggesting that unemployment and poverty were leading to a rise in crime in New York City.
“You are out of your freaking mind,” Yoho said to the congresswoman, who then told him that he was “rude,” said the report, which said their conversation was overheard by a reporter.
Joined by fellow Rep. Roger Williams, R-Texas, Yoho then walked down the steps and said, “f—ing bitch,” The Hill reported.
In a statement to NBC News, a spokesman for Yoho denied using the slur.
“He did not call Rep. Ocasio-Cortez what has been reported in the Hill or any name for that matter,” said the spokesman, Brian Kaveney, who added, “Instead, he made a brief comment to himself as he walked away summarizing what he believes her polices to be: bulls—.”
Asked by The Hill about the exchange, Williams acted like he didn’t hear what was said even though he was reportedly right there when it happened.
“I was thinking about some issues I’ve got in my district that need to get done,” Williams said, according to The Hill.
Reacting to Williams’ comment, Ocasio-Cortez tweeted Tuesday, “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.”
“(He’s lying, by the way. He joined in w/ Yoho),” she said in the tweet.
Ocasio-Cortez then said in a follow-up tweet that Williams yelled at her, too, about “throwing urine.”
The remarks Yoho appeared to be referring to, as noted by The Hill, were from July 9 when Ocasio-Cortez said at an event, “Crime is a problem of a diseased society, which neglects its marginalized people.”
Requests for further comment from Ocasio-Cortez were not immediately returned.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., told reporters Tuesday that Yoho not only apologize, but should be punished.
“Mr. Yoho owes not only the congresswoman an apology but also an apology on the floor of the House of Representatives,” he said. “Bottom line, I think it was despicable conduct and needs to be sanctioned.”
At a news conference later Tuesday, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he was going with Yoho later in the afternoon about the reported remarks.
Several of Ocasio-Cortez’s Democratic colleagues defended her Tuesday while taking aim at Yoho.
“Like @aoc, I believe poverty to be a root cause of crime. Wonder why Rep. Yoho hasn’t accosted me on the Capitol steps with the same sentiment? #shameful,” tweeted Rep. Dean Phillips, D-Minn.
Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz., also tweeted: “I have suggested the same thing that @aoc has poverty & unemployment lead to crime. Weird neither Yoho or any other member has ever talked to me that way.”
Haley Talbot and Kasie Hunt contributed.
