Texas Rep. Roger Williams denies taking part in confrontation with AOC at U.S. Capitol
U.S. Rep. Roger Williams on Tuesday said he didn’t yell at Democratic firebrand U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, as she alleged he did on the steps of the U.S. Capitol this week.
Ocasio-Cortez, of New York, took to social media Tuesday to say that he yelled at her about “throwing urine” as she was arguing with U.S. Rep. Ted Yoho, R-Fla., Monday.
“Gotta love Republican courage from Rep @RogerWilliamsTX when he undeniably sees another man engaged in virulent harassment of a young woman, just pretend you never saw it in the most cartoonish manner possible and keep pushing,” Ocasio-Cortez tweeted. “He’s lying, by the way. He joined in w/ Yoho.”
Williams, a Republican whose district stretches from the edges of Tarrant County through Austin, denied that he was involved.
“The Congressman did not participate in the exchange between Congressman Yoho and Congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez, nor did he hear what was said in their conversation,” his spokeswoman, Heather Douglass, said in a written statement.
“Any comments overheard or attributed to Congressman Williams were part of a separate conversation that he and Congressman Yoho were having. Congressman Williams would have immediately condemned that type of language towards any colleague.”
Williams, a former Texas Secretary of State, has represented the 25th Congressional District since 2013.
A story by The Hill said that Yoho was walking down the Capitol steps after casting a vote when Ocasio-Cortez, a freshman, was walking up the steps to cast her own vote. The story said a reporter overheard a “brief but heated exchange” between the two.
“Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez she was ‘disgusting’ for recently suggesting that poverty and unemployment are driving a spike in crime in New York City during the coronavirus pandemic,” the story reported.
The conversation ended and Yoho walked off with Williams, who also was walking down the steps.
The story did not claim Williams was part of the conversation, but it did say he was close enough to hear the exchange. When asked about the incident before Ocasio-Cortez tweeted about him, Williams told a reporter he was thinking about issues in his district as Ocasio-Cortez and Yoho argued.
Ocasio-Cortez took to Twitter after The Hill reported the interaction and that Yoho called her a profanity.
“I never spoke to Rep. Yoho before he decided to accost me on the steps of the nation’s Capitol yesterday,” she tweeted. “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.”
The Dallas Morning News reported that a Yoho spokesman denied that he used the words Ocasio-Cortez claimed he used.
Ocasio-Cortez went on to say on Twitter that “what’s wild to me @RogerWilliamsTX is why would you blatantly lie to a reporter who saw this exchange? You were yelling at me too, about ‘throwing urine.’”
Julie Oliver, the Democrat challenging Williams in November, weighed in on social media as well.
“Maybe we’re accustomed to this kind cowardice and misogyny from the politicians who blindly support a president who brags openly about committing sexual assault,” she tweeted. “But we shouldn’t be. We have to end this culture of toxicity and dehumanization. #TX25”
This story was originally published July 21, 2020 at 4:54 PM.
