Hearing AOC's Inspiring Floor Speech About Ted Yoho's And Roger Williams' Assault On Her Shouldn't Be Just Read-- It Should Be Heard

AOC's speech should stand alone and there is no man nor any woman who should not hear it in full. In the words of New Yorker editor David Remnick, in was a rare example of the kind of "rhetorical dynamism long ago vanished from the hallways and chambers of the United States Congres." She called out a boor and a bully in front of all his friends and colleagues in Congress, someone who should have never have been elected to Congress to begin with, someone who voted-- along with just 3 of his vicious extremist collaborators-- against making lynching a crime. We covered the confrontation before her speech.

Remnick noted that Yoho's pretend-"apology" and lack of remorse by quoting his own speech: "No one was accosted, bullied, or attacked. This was a brief policy discussion, plain and simple, and we have our differences... The fact still remains, I am not going to apologize for something I didn’t say." Remnick noted that "With confused logic, Yoho invoked his wife and daughters and said that he objected to Ocasio-Cortez’s views because he had experienced poverty when he was young. 'I cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, and my country,' he said. It was unclear who had asked him to apologize for his religious faith, his patriotism, or his love of family, but he was ardent all the same. In all, Yoho’s was at best a deflective, jittery performance that was in no wise enhanced by his spokesman, Brian Kaveney, who e-mailed the Washington Post to say that Yoho 'did not call Rep. Ocasio-Cortez what has been reported in The Hill or any name for that matter. . .  Instead, he made a brief comment to himself as he walked away summarizing what he believes her policies to be: bullshit.'"

The politics of our moment are dominated by a bully of miserable character, a President who has failed to contain a pandemic through sheer indifference, who has fabricated a reëlection campaign based on bigotry and the deliberate inflammation of division. His language is abusive, his attitude toward women disdainful. Trump is all about himself: his needs, his ego, his self-preservation. Along the way he has created a Republican Party in his own image. Imitators like Ted Yoho slavishly follow his lead. On the House floor Thursday, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez exemplified a different sort of character. She defended not only herself; she defended principle and countless women. And all in just a few short minutes on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The coordinated forces of hard core conservatism and special interests just an immense sum of money trying to destroy AOC in her own district. New York has 27 congressional districts and quite a bit of money is being spent in contested primaries-- like the one that saw AOC ally Jamaal Bowman defeat Pelosi ally Eliot Engel-- and in red hot general election contests-- like the one in Syracuse where Trump enabler John Katko is desperately clinging to a seat that has slipped out of his grasp. Yet known of the other 26 districts witnessed the amount of vitriol and hatred-- nor the amount of cold hard cash-- thrown against AOC. Nearly $16 million was spent in NY-14, far more than anywhere else in NY. They put in a life-long Republican and Wall Street whore, Michelle Caruso-Cabrera, pretending to be a Democrat to run against her and she raised over $3 million from fellow fat cats. One, Dan Backer, the founder of both the Stop Hillary PAC and the sleazy Trumpist Great America PAC and treasurer of the Conservative Action Fund, the Citizen Revolt SuperPAC, the Special Operations Speaks PAC and the Tea Party Leadership Fund, started a PAC devoted specifically to defeat AOC-- Stop the AOC PAC. Although Backer put over $30,000 of his own into it and got a couple of cronies to write checks-- like Shaun McCutcheon-- the attempt to smear Ocasio-Cortez fell flat. AOC won the primary-- overwhelmingly:

• AOC- 72.6%
• Michelle Caruso Cabrera- 19.5%
• Badrun Khan- 5.4%
• Sam Sloan- 2.5%

In the general election, she will face Caruso Cabrera again, this time running on the Serve America Movement Party, as well as the official GOP/Conservative Party nominee John Cummings, who has raised $3,291,224. But these nefarious political and economic forces have largely moved on from NY-14 to MN-05, to take aim, as we noted last week, at AOC-ally Ilhan Omar. Millions are being funneled into Minneapolis to try to do to Ilhan what they failed to do to AOC. There is a similar smear campaign against Rashida Tlaib in Detroit, where Republicans David Dudenhoefer and Al Lemmo (a wealthy self-funder) have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars lying about her, in the hopes of seeing establishment conservative Democrat Brenda Jones, Detroit's City Council President, beat her in the primary. The primary is August 4. If you'd like to contribute to Rashid, Ilhan and AOC all in one shot, you can find the three of them by clicking on the Blue America 2020 Worthy Incumbents thermometer on the right.



UPDATE: An Open Letter to Ted Yoho, From a Former Congressional Intern

Rep. Ted Yoho, as one of your former Congressional interns, I’m incredibly disappointed and appalled not only by your misogynistic behavior towards Rep. AOC and women at large, but your dismissive behavior as a whole.

I used to look up to you, for your role as a former Chairman on the House Subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific. As someone who intends to pursue a similar career path, I should have known better when you asked me whether or not I considered having a family instead. When you voted against making lynching a federal crime. When you don’t believe the Civil Rights Act is constitutional. When I had to personally ask you what your thoughts on the separation of children and families were because you were silent for days while hundreds of constituents-- mothers, nurses, professors, teachers, students-- demanded answers. And when your reply to me was to stop buying into everything the media said, you dismissed me, too. The unwanted pats on the back didn’t help either.

Congressman Yoho, you may not have directly uttered “f — b — ” to AOC, but you accosted her by telling her she was “disgusting, crazy, out of her mind, dangerous.” You denied and tried softening what reporters have corroborated. You tried to justify your actions by using poverty as a back up. That is inexcusable.

You’re right about one thing though, Congressman Yoho-- women are dangerous. We will not stand by as you, and other members of Congress, continue propagating this behavior. The reason for this post is to encourage others-- former congressional interns, staff, anyone who might be looking for a voice, who might be afraid-- to speak out about these kinds of experiences. It’s time to hold our elected officials accountable for this behavior.

Rep. AOC, thank you for using your voice to embolden and empower individuals to #SpeakOut.

Also, Congressman Yoho, don’t forget to pay your interns.