Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez issued a powerful floor speech condemning Rep. Ted Yoho’s misogynistic statements earlier this week.
She and other Democrats fiercely condemned a sexist culture that accepts "violence and violent language against women", whose adherents include President Donald Trump.
Per Vox News, during a policy disagreement at the US Capitol on Tuesday, Yoho reportedly called the Congress member "crazy," "disgusting," and "out of [her] freaking mind." After she left, he apparently said she was a "f***ing b*tch," according to The Hill’s Mike Lillis.
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On Wednesday (22nd July), Yoho offered an apology that was considered insufficient by many. "Having been married for 45 years with two daughters, I’m very cognizant of my language," he said. "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."
Now, the day after rejecting the Republican congressman's offer of contrition, Ocasio-Cortez denounced the incident as another example of the entrenched sexism within Congress.
"This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural," she said, detailing that it was a culture of "accepting a violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that."
She also decimated Yoho's use of the "father of daughters" excuse.
"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 in the floor speech on Thursday. "But what I do have issue with is using women — wives and daughters — as shields and excuses for poor behavior."
"Mr. Yoho was not alone. He was walking shoulder to shoulder with Representative Roger Williams. And that’s when we start to see that this issue is not about one incident. It is cultural. It is a culture of a lack of impunity, of acceptance of violence and violent language against women, an entire structure of power that supports that.
"Mr. Yoho mentioned that he has a wife and two daughters. I am two years younger than Mr. Yoho’s youngest daughter. I am someone’s daughter too. Now, what I am here to say is that this harm that Mr. Yoho levied, tried to levy against me, was not just an incident directed at me, but when you do that to any woman, what Mr. Yoho did was give permission to other men to do that to his daughters."