A GOP Rep Leveled A 'Reprehensible' Remark At AOC — And Gender Studies Experts Would Like A Word

Rep. Randy Weber (R-Texas) recently leveled quite the condescending dig at Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) during a House committee hearing this week. And gender studies experts say the congressman’s “reprehensible” comment highlights a concerning trend among GOP elected officials.

The House Committee on Energy and Commerce held a hearing, which ran into the early morning hours on Wednesday, on the future of Medicaid and the GOP-proposed cuts to the state-federal program that covers health care costs for more than 70 million Americans. At one point in the hearing, Ocasio-Cortez addressed some of the exemptions to the GOP’s proposed work requirements for Medicaid, asking whether there would be exemptions to the requirements for someone after they experienced a pregnancy loss.

But Weber interrupted Ocasio-Cortez to suggest she was playing to the cameras. “I’m glad you’re addressing us instead of speaking to the camera,” he said. “Keep going.”

Weber then cut off Ocasio-Cortez moments later to reclaim his time, saying: “I just want to make the point that we like for you to address Republicans — and let’s have a dialogue this way, and not to a camera.”

Ocasio-Cortez later addressed Weber’s remarks by looking directly at the camera, saying: “There are 13.7 million Americans on the other side of that screen right there. Hello, hello, I’m talking to you, because I work for you.”

“I’m talking to you because I work for you, and they deserve to see what is happening here, because there are plenty of districts, including Republican ones, where 25% of your constituents are on Medicaid, 40% of your constituents are on Medicaid,” she continued.

When Weber asked Ocasio-Cortez to yield her time, she shot back that she “will not.”

“I will not yield because it was a terribly disrespectful comment, and I will not yield to disrespectful men,” she said.

Weber later apologized for his comments to Ocasio-Cortez, and the New York representative accepted the apology. But Weber’s remarks were nonetheless “par for the course for MAGA men,” who “interrupt, disrespect and insult women, especially women of color,” said Kari J. Winter, a professor of American studies at the University at Buffalo.

Winter, whose expertise includes gender, feminism, race and class, told HuffPost that it’s “laughable for Weber to accuse AOC of playing to the cameras when he kowtows to an administration that is all about spectacles of power.”

“Trump repeatedly describes his Cabinet picks as characters from central casting,” she continued. “In place of expertise and experience, he promotes appearance. White, Fox-camera-ready: You’re in.”

Karen Beckwith, a professor of political science who studies the intersection of gender and politics, said that “political science research confirms that issues of speech on the floor of the U.S. Congress are highly gendered.”

“Men interrupt speakers more often than women do,” she told HuffPost. “In Congress, men are also much more likely to engage in disparaging discourse, particularly in regard to women. This gendered speech behavior is most clearly evident in congressional hearings.”

Beckwith said Weber’s behavior, “while reprehensible, is unfortunately common behavior among a subset of men in Congress.”

Weber’s remarks to Ocasio-Cortez were meant as a distraction — and it’s all too common, Winter said. 

“Trump and his sycophants constantly deploy distraction to avoid answering on-point questions,” Winter said. “Weber’s obvious goal was to find a way to deflect AOC’s questions about the devastating impacts on everyday Americans of Republican efforts to undermine health care in general and Medicaid specifically.”

A new analysis published by the Congressional Budget Office last week revealed that GOP proposals to reduce Medicaid would cut millions off from the benefit.

“On the one hand, they obsessively talk about wanting to make American women have more babies. On the other hand, they are undermining and degrading maternal health care, medical research, insurance and every social structure that enables mothers, babies and families to thrive,” Winter later continued.

As it relates to Ocasio-Cortez calling out Weber’s remarks as “disrespectful,” Winter said: “May she never yield to disrespectful men. She does indeed work for the well-being of the American public.”

“Trump has created a political ecosystem designed to bring out the worst in human behavior,” Winter later added. “He gives vast permission and encouragement to male aggression against women. Weber’s attempt to silence AOC, all in the service of avoiding her questions, is a symptom of a spreading virus that all of us must combat.”

And for women, in general, who may be experiencing any level of workplace aggression from their male colleagues, Winter advises them to “study the history of the women’s and civil rights movements to draw inspiration from our forebears who have stood up and raised their voices in face of horrific systems of oppression.”

“Build friendships and partnerships with allies,” she continued. “Do not give up your seat on the bus. Do not give up the floor to disrespectful men. Keep your eyes on the prize.”

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