Democratic-Socialist Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., intensified her spat with conservative Florida GOP Rep. Ted Yoho on Thursday, taking to the House floor to decry their confrontation and assailing it as an example of a sexist culture of "accepting violence and violent language against women."
"This issue is not about one incident. It is cultural," she said, adding that it is permitted by "an entire structure of power that supports that."
The speech came following Yoho's apology on the House floor on Wednesday, during which he said he was sorry for approaching her at the Capitol to challenge her on comments at a town hall in which she blamed New York's dramatic increase in crime on out-of-work parents who are desperate to "shoplift some bread" for their children.
During the exchange, Yoho – who appeared on Newsmax TV's "Greg Kelly Reports" Wednesday evening – said he told Ocasio-Cortez: "You can't be that ignorant."
It also came after Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter to reject Yoho's apology in a series of posts, characterizing their exchange as him "accosting" her with a "verbal assault."
"I did not accost her, and I wanted to have that conversation and I apologize that I could have done that with better foresight," Yoho told Kelly. "We could have set up an appointment and we could have sat down. The discussion would remain the same."
During her floor speech Thursday, Ocasio-Cortez repeated a profane slur which TheHill.com said Yoho uttered to no one in particular after he walked away from his confrontation with her.
"No, I did not say that to her, and she knows that," Yoho told Kelly. "I apologize for my actions. I can't apologize for something I didn't say."
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