- And now you’ll remember the day Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), speaking from the House floor, systematically dismembered Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) for thinking it’s OK to publicly call a.
- Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Addresses Ted Yoho’s Vulgar Comments in a Powerful Speech About Sexism in Congress “Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr.
- Jul 23, 2020 Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress’s most outspoken progressives, described it on the House floor on Thursday. She said Yoho put his finger in her face and called.
Warning, explicit language: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addresses Rep. Ted Yoho's insults
On Monday, Florida Rep. Ted Yoho called New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a “fucking bitch” on the steps of our nation's Capitol. Their colleague Rep. Roger Williams was there, too,. Ocasio-Cortez's full speech responding to Rep. Ted Yoho WASHINGTON – Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., took to the House floor Thursday morning to deliver a candid rebuke of sexism.
Alexandria Ocasio Cortez Speech Today
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addresses Rep. Ted Yoho's insults against her in House floor speech
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, backed by a team of supportive colleagues, led one hour of passionate speeches on the House floor Thursday morning calling out Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., for 'dehumanizing' insults against her and slamming his attempt to apologize as falling way short.
Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., recounted how Yoho accosted her on the Capitol steps Monday, put a finger in her face calling her 'disgusting,' 'crazy' and 'dangerous.' Later, she said Yoho then called her a 'f---ing b---h,' which was overheard by reporters.
“I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over calling women and using abusive language towards women,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez said she's used to getting harassed as a woman in America, recalling her time as a bartender and rider of New York City subways, and then getting targeted by President Trump as a member of Congress.
The liberal politician and member of the freshman 'squad' said she was prepared to let Yoho's comments go, until the retiring GOP congressman attempted to apologize on the House floor Wednesday and instead used his wife and daughters as 'shields' and 'excuses for poor behavior,' she said.
Ted Yoho Speech
Yoho noted in his speech Wednesday that he has two daughters and has been married for nearly five decades, so he is 'very cognizant of my language.'
'I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho's youngest daughter. I am someone's daughter, too,' Ocasio-Cortez said, getting emotional talking about her late father. 'My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho's disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television, and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.'
Ocasio-Cortez ended her 10-minute monologue thanking Yoho for showing just how common harassment against women is -- even against members of Congress -- and how it's a 'pattern' of dehumanizing behavior.
'I want to thank him for showing the world that you can be a powerful man, and accost women,' Ocasio-Cortez said. 'You can have daughters and accost women, without remorse, you can be married and accost women. You can take photos and project an image to the world of being a family man and accost women without remorse and with a sense of impunity. It happens every day in this country. It happened here on the steps of our nation's Capitol.'
Yoho did apologize on the House floor on Wednesday following a report he called the congresswoman a 'f------ b----.'
Congressman Yoho Speech
'I stand before you this morning to address the strife I injected into the already contentious Congress,' Yoho said. 'I rise to apologize for the abrupt manner of the conversation I had with my colleague from New York. It is true that we disagree on policies and visions for America. But that does not mean we should be disrespectful.'
'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,' Yoho said.
But AOC swiftly indicated on Twitter that she did not accept the apology.
She wrote that Yoho didn't 'apologize or name any action he did,' didn't 'accept responsibility,' and lied about their interaction -- saying 'this was not a 'conversation,' it was verbal assault.'
In his contentious exchange with Ocasio-Cortez, which was first reported by The Hill, the outlet reported that while confronting the congresswoman over her past comments about crime in New York City being propelled by the pandemic and poverty rather than a lack of policing, he called her 'disgusting' and 'out of her freaking mind.' He reportedly did not make the 'f------ b----' comment until after the two had parted ways, and was not speaking to anybody in particular when he made the comment.
However, his office denied those remarks, telling Politico the lawmaker had merely said, 'bulls---.'
Ocasio-Cortez's address Thursday was followed up by passionate speeches from 16 Democrats -- including the three fellow squad members Reps. Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib and Ayanna Pressley -- who praised the freshman rep for standing up to Yoho and said women are not going to put up with such attacks. Many females colleagues, as part of the historic class of women reps in Congress, recalled abusive language they've experienced in their lives and said it's not acceptable.
'We are here to say that we will not allow sexism, misogyny and patriarchy to hold us back,' Omar, D-Minn., said. 'We will not apologize for advocating for women everywhere. We will not apologize for claiming the power that women deserved for centuries. And we will send a message to our daughters and their daughters, that they deserve fundamental equality.'
Fox News' Tyler Olson contributed to this report.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (00:00)
Speaker, I seek recognition for a question of personal privilege.
Speaker 2: (00:04)
The chair has been made aware of the valid base for the gentlewoman’s point of personal privilege. The gentlewoman from New York is recognized for one hour.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (00:14)
Thank you Madam Speaker, and I would also like to thank many of my colleagues for the opportunity to not only speak today but for the many members from both sides of the aisle who have reached out to me in support following an incident earlier this week. About two days ago, I was walking up the steps of the Capitol when Representative Yoho suddenly turned a corner and he was accompanied by Representative Roger Williams, and accosted me on the steps right here in front of our nation’s Capitol. I was minding my own business, walking up the steps and Representative Yoho put his finger in my face, he called me disgusting, he called me crazy, he called me out of my mind, and he called me dangerous. Then he took a few more steps and after I had recognized his comments as rude, he walked away and said I’m rude, you’re calling me rude. I took a few steps ahead and I walked inside and cast my vote. Because my constituents send me here each and every day to fight for them and to make sure that they are able to keep a roof over their head, that they’re able to feed their families and that they’re able to carry their lives with dignity.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (01:43)
I walked back out and there were reporters in the front of the Capitol and in front of reporters Representative Yoho called me, and I quote, “a f***ing b****.” These were the words that Representative Yoho levied against a congresswoman. The congresswoman that not only represents New York’s 14th Congressional District, but every congresswoman and every woman in this country. Because all of us have had to deal with this in some form, some way, some shape, at some point in our lives. I want to be clear that Representative Yoho’s comments were not deeply hurtful or piercing to me, because I have worked a working class job. I have waited tables in restaurants. I have ridden the subway. I have walked the streets in New York City, and this kind of language is not new. I have encountered words uttered by Mr. Yoho and men uttering the same words as Mr. Yoho while I was being harassed in restaurants. I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho’s and I have encountered this type of harassment riding the subway in New York City.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (03:11)
This is not new, and that is the problem. Mr. Yoho was not alone. He was walking shoulder to shoulder with Representative Roger Williams, and that’s when we start to see that this issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. It is a culture of lack of impunity, of accepting of violence and violent language against women, and an entire structure of power that supports that. Because not only have I been spoken to disrespectfully, particularly by members of the Republican Party and elected officials in the Republican Party, not just here, but the President of the United States last year told me to go home to another country, with the implication that I don’t even belong in America. The governor of Florida, Governor DeSantis, before I even was sworn in, called me a whatever that is. Dehumanizing language is not new, and what we are seeing is that incidents like these are happening in a pattern. This is a pattern of an attitude towards women and dehumanization of others.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (04:35)
So while I was not deeply hurt or offended by little comments that are made, when I was reflecting on this, I honestly thought that I was just going to pack it up and go home. It’s just another day, right? But then yesterday, Representative Yoho decided to come to the floor of the House of Representatives and make excuses for his behavior, and that I could not let go. I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls that I go home to, 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 and to accept silence as a form of acceptance. I could not allow that to stand which is why I am rising today to raise this point of personal privilege.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (05:49)
I do not need Representative Yoho to apologize to me. Clearly he does not want to. Clearly when given the opportunity he will not and I will not stay up late at night waiting for an apology from a man who has no remorse over calling women and using abusive language towards women, but what I do have issue with is using women, our wives and daughters, as shields and excuses for poor behavior. Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho’s youngest daughter. I am someone’s daughter too. My father, thankfully, is not alive to see how Mr. Yoho treated his daughter. My mother got to see Mr. Yoho’s disrespect on the floor of this House towards me on television and I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (07:12)
Now what I am here to say is that this harm that Mr. Yoho levied, it tried to levy against me, was not just an incident directed at me, but when you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters. In using that language in front of the press, he gave permission to use that language against his wife, his daughters, women in his community, and I am here to stand up to say that is not acceptable. I do not care what your views are. It does not matter how much I disagree or how much it incenses me or how much I feel that people are dehumanizing others. I will not do that myself. I will not allow people to change and create hatred in our hearts.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (08:18)
And so what I believe is that having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man. Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man, and when a decent man messes up as we all are bound to do, he tries his best and does apologize. Not to save face, not to win a vote, he apologizes genuinely to repair and acknowledge the harm done so that we can all move on.
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: (09:06)
Lastly, what I want to express to Mr. Yoho is gratitude. 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 without remorse. You can be married and accost women. You can take photos and project an image to the world of being a family man and accost women without remorse and with a sense of impunity. It happens every day in this country. It happened here on the steps of our nation’s Capitol. It happens when individuals who hold the highest office in this land admit, admit to hurting women and using this language against all of us. Once again, I thank my colleagues for joining us today. I will reserve the hour of my time and I will yield to my colleague, Representative Jayapal of Washington. Thank you.