Occasion Cortez
Warning, explicit language: Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez addresses Rep. Ted Yoho's insults
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.
Another attempted smear of Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has backfired. An image of a naked woman in a bath purported to be her was circulated on co. Born in the Bronx, Ocasio-Cortez was raised by a mother from Puerto Rico and a father who was a small business owner. After her father passed away from cancer in 2008, Ocasio-Cortez worked two.
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.
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 Net Worth
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----.'
'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.
Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez? After the primary elections in New York Tuesday night, the internet is abuzz with talk of this one particular New Yorker. Here’s what you need to know.
Who is Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez?
Ocasio-Cortez is a 28-year-old New Yorker who was born in the Bronx to Puerto Rican parents — her mother was born in Puerto Rico and her father in the Bronx. She grew up in a working-class household, she notes on her website, where her father was a small business owner, her mother cleaned homes and everyone pitched in.
Ocasio-Cortez attended public school 40 minutes north of the Bronx in Yorktown. That 40-minute commute opened her eyes to the effects of income inequality. To her, the commute represented “a vastly different quality of available schooling, economic opportunity, and health outcomes.”
In 2008, her father died of cancer and her family was thrown into a financial crisis. To support her mother, Ocasio-Cortez worked “two jobs and 18-hour shifts in restaurants to help her family keep their home.”
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez primary election win
Here’s why everyone is talking about Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez: On Tuesday, she defeated incumbent Joseph Crowley in the New York congressional primary election.
Rep. Crowley, 56, is the fourth-highest ranking Democrat in the House, chair of the House Democratic Caucus and the Queens Democratic Party and was thought by many to be the next speaker of the House. He’s served in Congress since 1999 and hasn’t had a primary challenger in 14 years.
Enter Ocasio-Cortez: she beat out Crowley in the primary for New York’s 14th District, which covers the eastern Bronx and north-central Queens. Ocasio-Cortez won with 57.5 percent of the vote. If she wins in November, she’ll be the youngest person in Congress.
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez political views
Ocasio-Cortez is a Democratic Socialist, and she campaigned on several progressive issues. She wants Medicare for all, a federal jobs guarantee program which would provide a baseline of $15-an-hour minimum wage and a benefits package, and tuition-free public college and trade schools.
She wants to abolish ICE, calling for immigration justice that provides a path to citizenship, she advocates for criminal justice reform and the end to for-profit prisons, an assault-weapons ban and more action against climate change.
Ocasio-Cortez also wants more solidarity with Puerto Rico. She laid out a plan on her website for actions like the cancellation of the island Wall Street debt, community-led recovery initiatives and a Marshall Plan to help Puerto Rico not just recover from Hurricane Maria but improve with modern infrastructure.
And, of course, she’s fighting for women’s rights — she’s called out news articles that refused to put her name in headlines and ran a campaign video in which she says, “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office.”
It’s time for a New York that works for all of us.
On June 26th, we can make it happen – but only if we have the #CourageToChange.
It’s time to get to work. Please retweet this video and sign up to knock doors + more at https://t.co/kacKFI9RtI to bring our movement to Congress. pic.twitter.com/aqKMjovEjZ
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@Ocasio2018) May 30, 2018
What did Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez do before her run for Congress?
Though a political newcomer, Ocasio-Cortez does have some experience in the political world. She organized for Sen. Bernie Sanders during his run for the 2016 presidential primary. She worked with high school students as an Educational Director with National Hispanic Institute and spearheaded projects to improve childhood literacy and writing in the Bronx.
On election day, she retweeted a photo that showed her working as a bartender — from one year ago, Nov. 2017.
This photo is from Nov. 14, 2017. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, 28, was then working as a bartender.
Cortez Congresswoman
Less than a year later, she defeated the likely next Speaker of the House, and will almost certainly be the youngest woman ever elected to Congress pic.twitter.com/JgHjdQWAF6
Occasion Cortez Hot
— Jeff Stein (@JStein_WaPo) June 27, 2018