Republican Rep. Ted Yoho denies calling Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez a 'f---ing b---h,' but apologizes for verbally assaulting her

• Rep. Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican, apologized on Wednesday for verbally assaulting Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez outside the Capitol but denied a report that he called her a "f---ing b---h."
• "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," he said in a statement from the House floor.
• Yoho added that he "cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, and my country."
• A journalist with The Hill witnessed and first reported on the Monday exchange, during which Ocasio-Cortez says Yoho approached her "out of nowhere," stuck his finger in her face, and began yelling at her.

Rep. Ted Yoho, a Florida Republican, apologized on Wednesday for verbally assaulting Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez on the steps of the Capitol building on Monday in an exchange during which he reportedly called his colleague a "f---ing b---h."

Yoho said he regretted the "abrupt manner" of his comments and "the strife I injected into the already contentious Congress," but he denied using profane language and a sexist slur against her.

"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," he said during a brief statement from the House floor.

He added that he "cannot apologize for my passion or for loving my God, my family, and my country."

Yoho reportedly took issue with Ocasio-Cortez's recent claim that crime has risen in the country during the pandemic because of poverty and unemployment. He argued on Wednesday that all Americans can "rise up and succeed and not be encouraged to violate the law."

Ocasio-Cortez rejected Yoho's statement on Wednesday in a series of tweets, saying his remarks were "not an apology."

"I will not teach my nieces and young people watching that this an apology, and what they should learn to accept," she said. "Yoho is refusing responsibility."

A journalist with The Hill witnessed and first reported on the Monday exchange, during which Ocasio-Cortez says Yoho approached her "out of nowhere," stuck his finger in her face, and began yelling at her.

"He started going off about shootings and bread and nonsense, calling me crazy, shameful, out of my mind, etc," the congresswoman told Yahoo News of Yoho on Tuesday.

She said she told Yoho "he was being rude and that this was unbelievable" and started walking away.

"He said, 'I'M RUDE? You're calling ME rude?!' And I just kept walking to my vote," she said.

As Yoho walked away from Ocasio-Cortez and down the Capitol steps with GOP Rep. Roger Williams, The Hill reported he said, "F---ing b----."

The congresswoman told Yahoo that while she heard Yoho "muttering insults" as he walked away from her, she didn't catch exactly what he said.

Williams told The Hill that he'd ignored the conversation.

"I was actually thinking, as I was walking down the stairs, I was thinking about some issues I've got in my district that need to get done," Williams said. "I don't know what their topic was. There's always a topic, isn't there?"

Ocasio-Cortez said in tweets and an interview that Williams was lying about the encounter and that he joined Yoho in yelling at her.