'The View' defends Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez after Capitol confrontation: 'She deserves everyone's respect'
On Wednesday’s The View, Meghan McCain and her co-hosts provided a rare moment of agreement in their defense of Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who was reportedly accosted and called a misogynistic profanity by Republican Rep. Ted Yoho of Florida on the steps of the Capitol.
“All strong women ... we’re called this all the time. If you have an opinion or are strong, you’re this word,” McCain said. “I am so sick of it. And I disagree with [Ocasio-Cortez] on almost everything but she deserves everyone’s respect and certainly the respect of her colleagues in Congress.”
.@AOC and I disagree on literally almost everything - but this mysogynistic trend where every woman you disagree with is a “bitch” is archaic, reductive and completely despicable. If you’re not emotionally mature enough to handle working with strong women, then resign Ted Yoho. https://t.co/udznGm1W8c
— Meghan McCain (@MeghanMcCain) July 21, 2020
Yoho has since apologized for the incident but denied using offensive language, instead blaming the media.
“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,” Yoho said on the House floor on Wednesday.
View co-host Sunny Hostin didn’t think Yoho’s apology was sufficient, especially given that the incident happened at Ocasio-Cortez’s workplace.
“Anyone else that did something like that at their place of employment would be censured, would be reprimanded. An apology would not be enough,” she said. “I don’t think in this case, it is enough. I think that Congress has to take corrective action against him.”
McCain saw the incident in broader terms, saying to men in “all factions of society, if you are mentally or emotionally incapable of working with strong women, you shouldn’t work with them. I think Ted Yoho should resign if he has such a huge problem.”
And Whoopi Goldberg capped off the discussion by saying that Rep. Yoho – and men like him – might want to watch their backs.
“You come up on a woman now, she will knock you out. You don’t want to mess with Liz Cheney,” Goldberg said, referring to the Republican lawmaker who recently took flak from her male colleagues for breaking with President Trump. “because she can beat the behinds of all those men who are talking crap to her. The same with [Ocasio-Cortez].”
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