Rep. Hal Rogers apologizes for cursing at congresswoman who asked him to wear a mask
U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty called out Rep. Hal Rogers via Twitter Tuesday afternoon, after an exchange in which she said Rogers poked her and told her to “kiss my ass.”
Rogers later said in a statement that he had apologized.
Beatty, D-Ohio, said she and Rogers were boarding a train when she “respectfully asked” him to put on a mask.
“He then poked my back, demanding I get on the train. When I asked him not to touch me, he responded, ‘kiss my ass,’” Beatty wrote in a tweet.
“This is the kind of disrespect we have been fighting for years, and indicative of the larger issue we have with GOP Members flaunting health and safety mandates designed to keep us and our staff safe,” she wrote. “@RepHalRogers, when you are ready to grow up and apologize for your behavior, you know where to find me.”
Beatty, 71, is chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus and has served in Congress since 2013. Rogers, R-Somerset, has represented Kentucky’s 5th congressional district in the U.S. House of Representatives since 1981.
“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.
Rogers, 84, was fined last April after he was accused of declining to submit to a security screening while entering the House chambers in the Capitol building, but he appealed the fine and won.
A security officer told Rogers he needed to be screened with a handheld wand because Rogers had set off a metal detector, according to a memo submitted to the House Ethics Committee. Rogers allegedly responded “maybe later, I have to vote,” then proceeded into the chambers. The memo said Rogers came back after he cast his vote and asked what he needed to do.
Rogers appealed the $5,000 fine, saying “I dispute the facts as presented,” and a majority of the ethics committee agreed with his appeal.
This story was originally published February 8, 2022 at 8:27 PM.
