US politician Ted Yoho resigned Friday from the board of a prominent Christian advocacy organisation after the group asked him to step down in response to his verbal attack on Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez earlier in the week.
Bread for the World, a nonpartisan group that seeks to alleviate hunger and poverty through public policy initiatives, announced Yoho’s departure in a statement on Saturday.
“We believe that Rep. Ted Yoho’s recent actions and words as reported in the media are not reflective of the ethical standards expected of members of our Board of Directors,” the group said in its statement.
The statement continued: “Bread sought his resignation as an action that reaffirms our commitment to coming alongside women and people of color, nationally and globally, as they continue to lead us to a more racially inclusive and equitable world.”
Yoho’s office did not immediately respond to HuffPost’s request for comment.
The Republican congressman faced intense backlash this week following his reported outburst against Ocasio-Cortez as she was walking up the Capitol steps in Washington on Monday.
He called her “disgusting” for suggesting that unemployment and poverty were behind the recent uptick in crime in New York City, according to The Hill reporter Mike Lillis, who witnessed the confrontation.
“You are out of your freaking mind,” Yoho told Ocasio-Cortez, who responded by saying that he was being “rude.”
As she continued to head into the building, Yoho reportedly muttered “fucking bitch.”
Yoho has insisted that the “offensive name-calling words attributed to me by the press were never spoken to my colleagues.” He apologised Wednesday for any “misunderstanding.”
Ocasio-Cortez excoriated Yoho over his non-apology in a passionate speech on the House floor Thursday, calling his remarks “dehumanising.”
“I am here because I have to show my parents that I am their daughter and that they did not raise me to accept abuse from men,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “What Mr. Yoho did was give permission for men to use that language against his daughters.”
“Having a daughter does not make a man decent. Having a wife does not make a decent man,” she continued. “Treating people with dignity and respect makes a decent man.”