Rep. Yoho Apologizes For 'The Abrupt Manner Of The Conversation' With AOC | NBC News NOW Republican Rep. Ted Yoho apologized to Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the House floor for what he called .the abrupt manner of the ...
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Alexandria Ocasio Cortez gave a speech to congress, in response to the despicably false apology by Rep. Yoho. It has been called one of the most important speeches in decades. Every man should listen to it to learn. Every woman should listen to it so she raises her expectations of men's behavior. A rough transcript follows the videos.
Here's the response Yoho gave.
here's the automated, uncorrected transcript, from Youtube.
and in front of reporters representative
yoho called me
and i quote a b*tch
about two days ago i was walking up the
steps of the capitol when
representative yoho suddenly turned a
corner
and he was accompanied by representative
roger williams
and accosted me on the steps right here
in front of our nation's capital
i was minding my own business walking up
the steps
and representative yoho put his finger
in my face
he called me disgusting he called me
crazy he called me out of my mind
and he called me dangerous
and then he took a few more steps and
after i had recognized his uh after i
had recognized his
his comments as rude he walked away and
said
i'm rude you're calling me rude
i took a few steps ahead and i walked
inside and cast my vote
and because my constituents send me here
each and every day
to fight for them and to make sure that
they
are able to keep a roof over their head
that they're able to feed their families
and that they're able to carry their
lives with dignity
i walked back out and there were
reporters
in the front of the capitol and in front
of reporters representative yoho called
me
and i quote a b*tch
these are the words that representative
yoho
levied against a congresswoman
the congresswoman that not only
represents new york's 14th congressional
district
but every congresswoman and every woman
in this country
because all of us have had to deal with
this
in some form some way some shape
at some point in our lives and i want to
be clear
that representative yoho's comments
were not deeply hurtful or
piercing to me because i have worked
a working class job i have weighted
tables in restaurants i have ridden the
subway
i have walked the streets in new york
city
and this kind of language is not new
i have encountered words uttered by mr
yoho and men
uttering the same words as mr yoho
while i was being harassed in
restaurants i have tossed
men out of bars that have used language
like mr yoho's
and i have encountered this type of
harassment
riding the subway in new york city
this is not new and that is
the problem 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 lack of
impunity
of accepting of violence and violent
language
against women an entire structure of
power
that supports that because not only have
i been spoken to disrespectfully
particularly by members of the
republican party and elected officials
in the republican party
not just here but the president of the
united states
last year told me to go home
to another country is the implication
that i don't even belong
in america the governor of florida
governor desantis before i even was
sworn in
called me a whatever that is
dehumanizing language is not
new and what we are seeing is that
incidents like these
are happening in a pattern this is a
pattern of of an attitude
towards women and dehumanization
of others so while i was not deeply hurt
or offended by little comments
that are made when i was reflecting
on this i i honestly thought that
i was just going to pack it up and go
home it's just
another day right
but then yesterday representative yoho
decided to come to the floor of the
house
of representatives and make excuses
for his behavior and that i
could not let go i could not
allow my nieces i could not allow
the little girls that 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 accept it as an apology and to
accept
silence as a form of acceptance
i could not allow that to stand which is
why i'm rising today to raise this point
of personal privilege and i do not need
representative yoho to apologize to me
clearly he does not want to clearly
when given the opportunity he will not
and 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
but what i do have issue with
is using women our wives
and daughters as shields and excuses
for poor behavior 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
my father thankfully is not alive
to see how mr yoho treated
his daughter my mother
got to see mr yojo'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
now what i am here to say
is that this harm that mr yoho levied
it 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
he gave in using that language in front
of the press
he gave permission to use that language
against his wife his daughters women in
his community
and i am here to stand up to say that
is not acceptable i do not care what
your views are
it does not matter how much i disagree
or how much it incenses me
or how much i feel that people are
dehumanizing others
i will not do that myself
i will not allow people to change
and create hatred in our hearts
and so what i believe
is that having a daughter does not
make a man decent having a wife
does not make a decent man
treating people with dignity and respect
makes a decent man and when a decent
man messes up as we all
are bound to do he tries
his best and does apologize
not to save face not to win a vote
he apologizes genuinely
to repair and acknowledge the harm done
so that we can all move on
lastly what i want to express to mr yoho
is gratitude i want
to thank him for showing the world
that you can be a powerful man
and a cost women you can
have daughters and a cost 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 a cost 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
capital
it happens when the when
individuals who hold the highest office
in this land
admit admit
to hurting women and using this language
against all of us