A female reporter for The Weekly Standard who calls herself the “byrdinator” has apologized to New York Democratic Rep.-elect Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
The whole thing is an anomaly among conservative reporters who rip the new lawmaker any chance they get.
The Washington Examiner‘s Eddie Scarry‘s recent tweet about Ocasio-Cortez’s seemingly high-end attire angered ABC The View‘s Whoopi Goldberg, who called him “Eddie Scaaaar-y.” Scarry even pissed off some of his coworkers who went after him on Twitter. “I’ll tell you something: That jacket and coat don’t look like a girl who struggles,” Scarry wrote in a tweet that went viral. He ultimately deleted the tweet but never apologized. He said he thought Ocasio-Cortez’s frock was “ELEGANT.”
But in this case, reporters of all stripes are not happy about Haley Byrd‘s apology.
“I don’t think we should be stoked about making someone apologize for being rude to a lawmaker,” said Ashley Feinberg, a reporter for HuffPost and an ex-Gawker writer who is known for her caustic observations.
Business Insider politics reporter Joe Perticone snapped, “No, you were not wrong. Congressmembers [sic] is a stupid, made-up word and lawmakers is preferable.”
Here’s the exchange:
OCASIO-CORTEZ: “This Harvard session has been going on for new congressmembers [sic] since the 70s. This year we heard things like “the $2 [trillion] tax cut was great” and “$15 wage is a bad idea.” No labor reps were there. Was this a multi-decade, pro-corporate lobbyist project the entire time?”
HALEY BYRD: “Alexandria, please stop calling them congressmembers” [stet]
Ocasio-Cortez fired a shot at the Byrd.
“Here is your Twitter Prescriptive Prize,” she wrote, adding a trophy emoji. “While you’re at it, try capitalizing my name next time.”
Byrd then did the unthinkable: She apologized.
“AOC gets a lot of undue criticism, and I understand why she was upset by what I said,” she wrote the incoming congresswoman. “My tweet comes off as condescending, even if I didn’t mean it that way. And instead of recognizing my mistake when she responded, I was snarky. I messed up. I’m sorry.”
This may turn into a case of strange bedfellows after all. Ocasio-Cortez was extremely grateful.
“I appreciate this, Haley,” Ocasio-Cortez wrote. “Thank you for owning up to this and apologizing in a real and authentic way. Means a lot.”
Many casual observers were touched by the apology, as they were not expecting it. Fox News’s Geraldo Rivera gave Byrd a thumbs up for her apology. Rivera knows something about fighting — he once got his nose broken in a skinhead brawl after he was punched on air. He never pressed charges.
“Good for you Haley,” he wrote, giving her a pat on the back. “Thx.”