A Republican congressman offered an apology today for the "abrupt manner" he used in a verbal confrontation with Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez but denied aiming a sexist slur at her.
Ocasio-Cortez rejected her colleague's words, saying they were "not an apology" and what she heard was a vulgar slur.
Ted Yoho, of Florida, made his remarks on the House floor a day after the New York lawmaker said he'd angrily harangued her outside the Capitol over her linkage of joblessness and some recent crimes.
In an encounter that was witnessed by a reporter from the Hill newspaper, Yoho assailed her for asserting that a recent upsurge in some crimes during the coronavirus pandemic could be linked to poverty and joblessness.
The publication wrote that Yoho, one of the House's most conservative members, used a sexist slur as he walked away from Ocasio-Cortez.