Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) posted a video of herself walking outside the Capitol building to Doja Cat’s “Boss Bitch” on Tuesday, one day after Rep. Ted Yoho (R-Fla.) was heard accosting her on the building’s steps.
In the video, which Ocasio-Cortez posted to Instagram Stories and later promoted on Twitter, the freshman lawmaker could be seen walking, mask on, near the building as the lyrics, “Imma a bitch / Imma boss / and I shine like gloss,” play in the background.
Ocasio-Cortez, who also blew a kiss to the camera at the end of the clip, captioned the video, “Shine on, fight for others, and let the haters stay mad.”
The short clip has drawn more than 3.5 million views on Twitter alone in less than 24 hours.
Ocasio-Cortez, who has a following of more than 5 million on Instagram, posted the video one day after Yoho was heard accosting the New York congresswoman, whose district spans the Bronx and Queens, after she previously suggested there was a link between rising crime seen in New York City amid the pandemic and poverty and unemployment.
A reporter at The Hill heard Yoho, 65, confront Ocasio-Cortez, 30, over the remarks on the Capitol steps Monday, telling her she was “disgusting” and out of her “freaking mind.”
After the two parted, the reporter heard Yoho say, “Fucking bitch.”
Ocasio-Cortez said after the incident that she had never experienced such a confrontation.
“I’ve never had that kind of abrupt, disgusting kind of disrespect levied at me,” she continued.
After facing calls from other members of Congress to apologize on Tuesday, Yoho took to the House floor on Wednesday to publicly apologize to Ocasio-Cortez over the confrontation.
During his remarks, in which he did not mention Ocasio-Cortez by name, Yoho apologized for the “abrupt manner of the conversation” he had with the congresswoman the day before.
He also denied using the sexist language toward Ocasio-Cortez and said he is “very cognizant of [his] language,” while noting he has a wife and two daughters.
“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 the misunderstanding,” he said.
Ocasio-Cortez said on Twitter Tuesday that she “never spoke” to Yoho before the incident.
“Believe it or not, I usually get along fine w/ my GOP colleagues. We know how to check our legislative sparring at the committee door. But hey, ‘b*tches’ get stuff done,” she said.
She also took aim at the congressman’s apology on Twitter later on Wednesday and accused him of “refusing responsibility.”
“I will not teach my nieces and young people watching that this an apology, and what they should learn to accept,” she said before listing all of the reasons his remarks on Wednesday did not qualify as an apology to her.
“He didn’t even say my name,” she noted.