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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as an outspoken New York Democrat and social-media pot-stirrer, is no stranger to attacks from the right, but she was still surprised by what happened on Monday.
According to The Hill, Florida Republican Ted Yoho confronted Ocasio-Cortez while she was walking up the Capitol steps. He called her out for recent comments she made.
“You are out of your freaking mind,” he said, calling her “disgusting” for suggesting that poverty and unemployment are behind the rise in crime in New York City.
She told him he was being “rude.”
After the confrontation, Yoho, joined by Texas Republican Roger Williams, was overheard muttering, “f***ing bitch,” as he walked toward the House office buildings.
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter TWTR, +0.91% on Tuesday to add some color to the story:
This was a unique interaction for Ocasio-Cortez, apparently.
“That kind of confrontation hasn’t ever happened to me — ever,” she said. “I’ve never had that… abrupt, disgusting kind of disrespect levied at me.”
Yoho declined to comment, The Hill reported. As did Williams, other than to say “I was thinking about some issues I’ve got in my district that need to get done.”
Ocasio-Cortez took Williams to task for not speaking up:
Earlier this month, Ocasio-Cortez was asked about gun violence in New York at a virtual town hall. Her response is reportedly what triggered the clash. “Maybe this has to do with the fact that people aren’t paying their rent and are scared to pay their rent, and so they go out and they need to feed their child and they don’t have money,” she said at the time. “So… they’re put in a position where they feel like they either need to shoplift some bread or go hungry that night.”
Conservatives, like former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, pounced.
“There’s a big difference between shoplifting and cold-blooded murder, and for her not to know the difference is frankly astonishing,” he told Fox News last week.
Ocasio-Cortez on Monday addressed the issue.
“Listen, I’m not talking about violent crime, I’m not talking about shootings. But when it comes to petty theft, a lot of these are crimes of poverty, and people are desperate,’” she said. “So the right wing cuts up this clip, per usual, in a very misleading way… They basically [want] to make it seem as though I’m saying people are shooting each other because they’re hungry.”
