In ongoing drama, West fires back against charges of sexism, calls Wasserman Schultz "immature"
Republican Rep. Allen West continued to rail against fellow Florida lawmaker Debbie Wasserman Schultz on Wednesday, accusing the DNC chair of a "history" of "immature and unprofessional behavior" directed at his behalf.
In a Wednesday interview with conservative radio host Mark Levin, West fought back against accusations that a scathing e-mail he sent Wasserman Schultz on Tuesday was "sexist," and said he was being unfairly vilified for his comments.
The email, in which West accused Wasserman Schultz of being "vile," "unprofessional," "despicable" and "not a Lady" after she referenced him in remarks on the House floor, prompted outrage from the left - including among a number of Democrats and women's groups who accused him of sexismfor his remarks about Wasserman Schultz's gender.
West, however, contends that he was responding to a history of "immature and unprofessional behavior"directed toward him by Wasserman Schultz, which he says has been going on since he started running for his seat.
"I walked off the House floor, and Congresswoman Wasserman Schultz stepped up next and she used the opportunity to personally attack me and kind of make a little campaign jab," West said, of the sequence of events that prompted his email. "But the thing is, Mark, this has been a history of the type of, I think, immature and unprofessional behavior - going on back to when I was a candidate."
In her speech on the House floor, which took place on Tuesday's debate over the GOP debt limit plan, Wasserman Schultz said it was "unbelievable" that "the gentleman from Florida, who represents thousands of Medicare beneficiaries as do I, is supportive of this plan that would increase costs for Medicare beneficiaries." She did not ever use West's name in her remarks.
In the interview with Levin, West alleged that Wasserman Schultz had also ordered a protest outside of his campaign headquarters in the lead-up to the 2010 elections, during which she was "saying that I was a misogynist and that I hate women."
The former Army colonel argued that the backlash against his comments to the DNC leader were reflective of a larger double-standard in politics.
"The thing that really most aggravates me is that there's this double standard in that the people on the hard left can continue to attack conservatives, and especially minority conservatives, and female conservatives, but yet when all of a sudden you stand up and you say that you will not tolerate this anymore, then they claim to be a victim, which I find just absolutely laughable," he said.
"And you know, I'm the threat because I'm the guy that got off their 21st century plantation, and they cannot afford to have a strong voice such as mine out there reverberating and resonating across this country," he continued. "And even more so, they're not used to anyone that says 'I'm going to fight back against you.' That is absolutely reprehensible to them. And that's why all the sudden you have about four or five different websites that went up today saying that, 'Allen West hates women.'"
West, however, said the charges of sexism were "the epitome of falsification of the truth."
"Having been married for 22 years to someone with an MBA and a Ph.D., and having two beautiful daughters - that, to me, is just the epitome of falsification of the truth."
A number of lawmakers have called on West to apologize for his comments, but he has stood by the remarks.
In a statement Wednesday night, West spokeswoman Angela Sachitano called reports of an apology to Wasserman Schultz "absolutely false," and added that "the congressman is actually waiting on an apology from the DNC chair."
