Several members of Congress say they haven’t seen anything like this on Capitol Hill before. A member of the House of Representatives is accused of using language unbecoming of a Congressman. It happened Monday as Rep. Ted Yoho (R-FL) confronted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. The Hill describes the encounter as Yoho approached Ocasio-Cortez on a staircase on the east side of the Capitol:
In a brief but heated exchange, which was overheard by a reporter, Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez she was “disgusting” for recently suggesting that poverty and unemployment are driving a spike in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic.
“You are out of your freaking mind,” Yoho told her.
Ocasio-Cortez shot back, telling Yoho he was being “rude.”
But then as Yoho continued down the staircase, he reportedly said “F*ing bitch.”
AOC says another Congressman piled on when Yoho was berating her. She wrote that Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) was yelled at her about “throwing urine.” A spokesperson for Williams later denied his involvement.
Several Congressmen jumped to the NY Congresswoman’s defense suggesting that Yoho’s comments were not only vulgar, but sexist.
Rep. Dean Phillips tweeted, “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“
Today there are calls for an apology and perhaps a censure. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) addressed this today.
Yoho may not care what happens next. His term is up in early 2021, and he had previously announced he won’t be running for re-election in November.