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“ ‘I could not allow my nieces, I could not allow the little girls 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 to accept it as an apology. And to accept silence as a form of acceptance. I could not allow that to stand.’ ”
That’s Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s, from the House floor on Thursday morning, scolding Rep. Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican, who had accosted her earlier this week.
According to The Hill, Yoho confronted Ocasio-Cortez while she was walking up the Capitol steps. “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.
He then was reportedly overheard muttering “f***ing b****” as he walked away.
While Ocasio-Cortez actually said those last two words in front of Congress Thursday, Yoho, despite reports to the contrary, actually denied saying them.
He did, however, offer this apology on Wednesday:
Ocasio-Cortez wasn’t the only one taking issue with his limp response:
Ocasio-Cortez, however, said that, to her personally, his comments “were not deeply hurtful or piercing” because she’s heard them many times before throughout her life.
“Because I have worked a working-class job. I have waited tables and I have ridden the subway. I have walked the streets in New York City. And this kind of language is not new,” she said. “I have tossed men out of bars that have used language like Mr. Yoho’s.”
Here’s her full, 10-minute speech:
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