On Thursday morning, New York Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addressed Florida Representative Ted Yoho’s alleged verbal attacks recently directed to her on the steps of Capitol Hill and his subsequent apology, which she refused to accept. As reported by Raw Story , the progressive congresswoman took aim at Yoho and his purported misogyny via a speech on the floor of the House of Representatives.
“This harm that Mr. Yoho levied – 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,” she said.
Ocasio-Cortez claimed that Yoho’s use of language in front of the press was tantamount to giving “permission” to use the same kind of language to other women in his community.
“And I am here to stand up, to say that is not acceptable,” she continued.
The freshman congresswoman said she would not allow others to “create hatred in our hearts,” regardless of the disagreement she felt with others in Congress.
“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.”
Ocasio-Cortez ended her speech by suggesting Yoho’s apology was not made with the intention of repairing the “harm” he caused with his comments.
Yoho’s amends appeared to suggest that the press fabricated the slanderous words he directed at Ocasio-Cortez and also suggested that he was unable to apologize for loving his family, his country, and God. In response, Ocasio-Cortez said Yoho’s statement was not an apology and accused him of refusing to take responsibility for his actions.
According to The Hill , Yoho called Ocasio-Cortez a “f*cking b*itch.” After the alleged attacks, she claimed the aggressive confrontation was the first she had ever experienced since beginning her work in Congress.
The purported Republican obsession with Ocasio-Cortez has been documented in the past. As reported by USA Today , liberal watchdog group Media Matters for America conducted a study that found the congresswoman’s name was mentioned 3,181 times on Fox News Channel and its sister Fox Business Network during a six-week period, which amounts to 76 times daily. According to the non-profit, the progressive firebrand has become a target for the network’s hosts and guests to demonize. As noted by USA Today , Fox News hosts like Jeanine Pirro and Tucker Carlson have previously referred to Ocasio-Cortez’s past job as a bartender.