Beatty on lawmaker who said ‘kiss my ass’: ‘I have no tolerance for bullying’

Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) said on Wednesday that she has “no tolerance for bullying” after fellow Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) told her to “kiss my ass” when she asked him to wear his face mask. 

During an appearance on CNN’s “New Day,” Beatty, the chairwoman for the Congressional Black Caucus, told host John Berman that her interaction with Rogers was insulting, adding all she did was ask him to abide by the House chamber’s mask mandate. 

In a Twitter thread on Tuesday, Beatty wrote that Rogers told her to “kiss my ass” after asking him to wear a mask before boarding a train in the Capitol as lawmakers headed to votes in the House chamber.

“Were you surprised he said what he said to you?” Berman asked Beatty. 

“I was very surprised, to tell you the truth,” Beatty told Berman. “I was very surprised because in asking him to put his mask on, please, for him to have that type of attitude, it’s unacceptable.”

“And I have no tolerance for bullying and I also believe in civility and that’s why I think it’s important for me to express that this is not acceptable,” Beatty added. 

Beatty’s remarks come as Rogers has publicly apologized for the incident, saying his words to the CBC chair were “not acceptable.” 

“This afternoon, I met with Congresswoman Beatty to personally apologize. My words were not acceptable and I expressed my regret to her, first and foremost,” Rogers said in a statement on Tuesday.

Mask mandates are currently implemented only inside the House chamber, where Democrat and Republican lawmakers have been butting heads over abiding by the mask requirements within congressional halls. 

Several GOP lawmakers have faced hefty fines for refusing to wear masks on the House floor.