Democratic Rep. Joyce Beatty says GOP Rep. Hal Rogers told her 'kiss my ass' when she asked him to wear a mask in the Capitol subway

• Joyce Beatty claimed that Hal Rogers told her to "kiss my ass" when she asked him to put a mask on.
• Later in the evening, Rogers told CNN that he had apologized to Beatty.

Rep. Joyce Beatty, an Ohio Democrat, said one of her Republican colleagues, Rep. Hal Rogers, poked her and told her to "kiss my ass" when she asked him to wear a mask as the two rode a train in the Capitol complex.

"I respectfully asked my colleague @RepHalRogers to put on a mask while boarding the train," Beatty wrote on Twitter, adding the incident took place when the two were headed to the House floor for votes. "He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, 'kiss my ass.'"

Beatty, 71, said the incident is "indicative of the larger issue we have with GOP Members flaunting health and safety mandates." A representative for Rogers, who is the second-most senior Republican in the House, did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Beatty added that Rogers, who is 84, should "grow up" and apologize to her. Later Tuesday evening, Rogers said that he later met with Beatty and apologized to her.

"This afternoon, I met with Congresswoman Beatty to personally apologize," Rogers said in a statement. "My words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her, first and foremost."

Last summer, the Capitol's attending physician reinstated a House mask mandate, which extends to all office buildings and "the Hall of the House." The House also fines members who refuse to wear a mask on the floor.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus, which Beatty chairs, called on Rogers to make a public apology shortly before CNN reported that he had apologized to Beatty.

"I will not give Hal Rogers a pass," Rep. Val Demings, a Democrat from Florida, told reporters during a press conference about the incident, per CBS. "Look we're all dealing with the same thing, but his racist, inappropriate behavior against Joyce Beatty is totally unacceptable."

Congress has been divided over mask mandates.

Unlike the House, the Senate does not impose a mask requirement. CNN reported last month that the Capitol physician was encouraging offices to allow staffers to telework as much as possible and urged everyone to wear high-quality N95 or KN95 equivalent masks. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene and other Republicans have openly touted their efforts to flout the mask mandate. Greene has been fined tens of thousands of dollars for her failure to comply with the mandate.

Multiple lawmakers have also lamented just how much relationships have deteriorated after the insurrection and during the pandemic, especially on the House side.

"Toxic is spot-on," Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Democrat from Florida, told CNN last year of the state of things in the House. "I think there is plenty of Dem-on-Dem violence as well as Republican and Democratic divisions. I think it is not conducive to a healthy legislative environment for colleagues to make these debates both so personal and caustic."