Friday on MSNBC’s “The ReidOut,” Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) commented on Rep. Ted Yoho’s (R-FL) apology for his confrontation with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) earlier in the week.
Reid said, “A lot of people were disgusted this week at the way Congressman Ted Yoho treated your friend and colleague Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. Do you have anything you want to maybe say to him? He did a fake apology. I don’t think he apologized to her. She said she didn’t need it because she has dealt with this, even waiting tables dealing with rude people who say repugnant things to women. Do you have anything you want to say to Congressman Yoho?”
Omar said, “The most offensive part of his non-apology was the fact that he used his wife and daughters as an excuse on why he was someone who wouldn’t use the language he used. And we know that as the daughters of dignified and decent men, that you don’t have to have a mother or sister or a wife in order for you to respect women as an equal human being. To me, you know, this is a behavior that we would condemn for any man, but, you know, we have to condemn it aggressively because this is a member of Congress. This is someone who should know better. And it’s just such a tragedy that we get to have this conversation in Congress because we know so many women in our country and across the world deal with this and this is part of their lived experience. It doesn’t have to be that way. It is important for us to remind people that we deserve respect and fundamental equality. The fear of losing power should not make it so that you are disrespectful to your colleagues.”
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