Riled Ocasio-Cortez cites sexist culture

WASHINGTON — Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s anger over what she called a Republican lawmaker’s verbal assault spilled onto the House floor Thursday as she and other Democrats spoke of a sexist culture of “accepting violence and violent language against women.”

A day after rejecting an offer of contrition from Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., for his language during this week’s Capitol steps confrontation, Ocasio-Cortez and more than a dozen colleagues cast the incident as all-too-common behavior by men, including President Donald Trump and other Republicans.

“This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural,” said Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., calling it a culture “of accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that.”

No Republicans spoke on the House floor. But a Yoho spokesman emailed a statement in which the lawmaker said “no one was accosted, bullied, or attacked” during what he called a brief policy discussion.

Yoho, one of Congress’ most conservative lawmakers, said Ocasio-Cortez doesn’t have the “right to inflate, talk about my family, or give an account that did not happen for political gain. The fact still remains, I am not going to apologize for something I didn’t say.”

The outpouring on the House floor included several female lawmakers saying they’d routinely encountered sexist treatment.

“I personally have experienced a lifetime of insults, racism and sexism,” said Rep. Barbara Lee, D-Calif. “And believe me, this did not stop after being elected to public office.”

Trump was captured in a 2005 tape boasting about women, and his disparagement of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has included calling her “crazy.” Ocasio-Cortez said men accost women “with a sense of impunity” every day, including when “individuals

who hold the highest office in this land admit, admit to hurting women.”

She also recalled that last year, Trump said she and three colleagues on the “squad” of progressive Democratic women of color should “go back” to their home countries.

The lawmakers joining Ocasio-Cortez represented a wide range of the chamber’s Democrats.

On the establishment side was No. 2 House leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, a moderate 20-term veteran. His appearance, along with supportive words at a separate news conference by Pelosi, D-Calif., were a contrast to occasional clashes Ocasio-Cortez has had with party leaders.

Ocasio-Cortez, 30, is a freshman who has made her mark as one of Congress’ most insistent and outspoken progressives. Those speaking up included the three other “squad” members — Reps. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.

In a separate appearance, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., defended Yoho, 65, who will retire in January.

“When someone apologizes they should be forgiven,” McCarthy said. He added later, “I just think in a new world, in a new age, we now determine whether we accept when someone says ‘I’m sorry’ if it’s a good enough apology.”

Pelosi weighed in a separate news conference.

“It’s a manifestation of attitude in our society really. I can tell you that firsthand, they’ve called me names for at least 20 years of leadership, 18 years of leadership,” Pelosi said of Republicans.

In an encounter Monday witnessed by a reporter from The Hill, Yoho berated Ocasio-Cortez on the House steps for saying that some of the increased crime during the coronavirus pandemic could be traced to rising unemployment and poverty.

Ocasio-Cortez described it on the House floor Thursday. She said Yoho put his finger in her face and called her disgusting, crazy and dangerous.

She also told the House that in front of reporters, he called her, “and I quote, a f ****** b **** .” That matched The Hill’s version of what Yoho had said. Ocasio-Cortez was not there for that remark.