A Republican elected representative of the US Congress was in turmoil on Tuesday, accused of launching a sexist insult at rising star of the Democratic Party Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (AOC) after an extremely tense exchange on the steps of the Capitol in Washington. The elected member of the House of Representatives Ted Yoho on Monday sided with his Democratic colleague, a figure on the left wing of the party, to blame him for remarks linking the increase in crime in New York to the poverty increased by the pandemic.
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According to a reporter from the political news site The Hill who attended the exchange, Ted Yoho accused AOC of being "completely mad" and "disgusting" . This one having continued on his way, he added "fucking bitch" , according to this witness. A spokesperson for the Republican elected official confirmed to AFP that the two parliamentarians had "a brief conversation on the steps of the Capitol." But, according to him, Ted Yoho did not utter "any insult" against his colleague: "He just made a comment to himself by walking away to summarize what he thinks of his policy : bullshit! ”
The youngest of Congress, 30, for her part confirmed the harshness of the remarks. “I had never spoken to Representative Yoho before he accosted me,” she wrote on Twitter. "And yes, the s ***** are down to work!" , she added. AOC, who has often been in direct conflict with the Republican Party, said in a statement to Hill that he had "never been treated so abruptly and disrespectfully" by any of his colleagues.
House Democratic Majority Leader Steny Hoyer lamented “despicable” and “unacceptable” comments to the press and added that Ted Yoho should be sanctioned by his peers. “This unclassified, sexist and boorish behavior has no place in Congress,” also tweeted Democrat elected Debbie Wasserman Schultz.