(WASHINGTON) -- Florida’s 3rd Congressional District U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho apologized on the House floor Wednesday morning for the Tuesday’s “abrupt” conversation with New York’s Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
On the Bob Rose Show before heading to the House, Yoho denied reports in The Hill saying that he called AOC a profanity-laced term. Yoho said he thought her ideology was “freakin’ crazy.”
The Congressman said in his formal House apology, “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.”
“It is true that we disagree on policies and visions for America,” Yoho said, “but that does not mean we should be disrespectful.”
“I will commit to each of you that I will conduct myself from a place of passion and understanding that policy and political disagreement be vigorously debated,” Yoho said, adding that he “cannot apologize for my passion, or loving my God, or my family.”
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer accepted Yoho’s apology, after calling for Yoho to be sanctioned by Congress.
A reporter for The Hill alleges he heard Yoho make a profane reference to Ocasio-Cortez after the confrontation.
Yoho said on The Bob Rose Show that he confronted Ocasio-Cortez on the Capitol steps Tuesday regarding her views expressed in a town hall last month that poverty and unemployment are leading to a spike in crime in New York City amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Ocasio-Cortez responded to the charge by telling Yoho he was being "rude."
Though she seemingly did not hear the reporter’s alleged comment directly, AOC tweeted about the incident, and said she had never spoken to Yoho before Monday.
Although he was spotted alongside Yoho, Texas Republican Roger Williams denied hearing the exchange.
The purported exchange is highly unusual at the U.S. Capitol, even as bitter partisanship is exhibited by a divided Congress. It's been nearly 100 years since a Member of Congress was censured for using "unparlimentary language."