Florida Republican Matt Gaetz has ridiculed and body shamed abortion rights activists, telling a summit of young Republicans that women who attend rallies are too unattractive to need access to reproductive healthcare.
“Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies?” Gaetz asked the crowd at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa.
“The people are just disgusting. But why is it is that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions? Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb.”
“These people are odious on the inside and out. They’re like 5’2”, 350 pounds, and they’re like, ‘Give me my abortion or I’ll get up and march and protest.’ I’m thinking, march? You look like you got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade. A few of ‘em need to get up and march. They need to get up and march for like an hour a day, swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.”
Gaetz also used Twitter to specifically target a 19-year-old abortion rights activist Olivia Julianna, who had criticised his comments.
“Matt Gaetz…has said that it’s always the ‘odious.. 5’2 350 pound” women that “nobody wants to impregnate” who rally for abortion,” Julianna wrote on Twitter.
“I’m actually 5’11. 6’4 in heels. I wear them so the small men like you are reminded of your place.”
Gaetz responded by posting a picture of Julianna with the caption: “Dender raised”.
Julianna took the opportunity to raise funds for abortion rights, after posting a TikTok that has been watched more than 1 million times. She’s now raised more than $50,000 for abortion funds, and has also accused Gaetz of encouraging his followers to harass her online.
“This is what happens when a sitting Republican congressmen body shames and blasts you on social media,” she wrote on Twitter.
Gaetz later doubled down on his body shaming comments when asked by a reporter to clarify what he meant.
“You’re suggesting that these women at these abortion rallies are ugly and overweight?” the reporter asked him.
“Yes,” Gaetz said.
“What do you say to people who think those comments are offensive?”
“Be offended.”
All of this comes as Gaetz, a close ally of former president Donald Trump, is under investigation over the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.