Matt Gaetz, 40, may have met his political match in a liberal, savvy teenage social media activist from Texas.
On Saturday, at an event for an organization that supports conservative values on high school, college and university campuses, the U.S. congressman said:
“Why are women least likely to get pregnant the most worried about abortion? Nobody wants to soak you if you look like a sore thumb.”
He continued, “These people are disgusting from the inside out. He’s like 5’2″, 350 pounds.”
The comments garnered a lot of media attention, including a Newsmax piece that Gaetz retweeted to his 1.4 million Twitter followers with a photo of liberal activist Olivia Julianna, who is 19, with a group called Gen Z for Change, with the words “Dander raised.”
The MP also uploaded an interview he did with a local ABC affiliate in which, when asked if he called women who attend abortion rallies “ugly and overweight,” he replied: “Yes.”
Gaetz, who has made his name picking very public disagreements with liberals, probably didn’t see what was coming.
Giuliana took to Twitter hours after Gaetz gave that televised interview and turned the attention the Florida representative had sent to her own political ends. She announced an online fundraiser supporting abortion access. He also began mercilessly trolling Gaetz.
In honor of Matt Gaetz publicly shaming me, I will be raising money for the @genzforchange abortion fund. The Gen-Z for Choice fund distributes donations to states where services are most needed. You can donate at the link below 👇🏼 — Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 26, 2022 The next day, Juliana was ecstatic that she had raised $70,000. It was only the beginning. 🚨 ABORTION FUND UPDATE🚨 Since we started fundraising last night because of Matt Gaetz’s hateful comments, we have now raised over $70,000 for abortion funds across the country!!! — Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 27, 2022 Over the next 48 hours, the story was picked up by Newsweek, the Washington Post, Insider, Teen Vogue and Glamour. On Wednesday, Giuliana appeared on MSNBC’s The Reid Out, having raised $330,000 by then. [email protected] on raising $330,000 for abortion access by trolling Matt Gaetz: “We’re starting to see more and more Republicans like Matt Gaetz do these childish attacks because they know these women are mobilizing across the country.. .” #TheReidOut pic. twitter.com/DtVCecge6j — The ReidOut (@thereidout) July 28, 2022 Today, Teen Vogue history was renewed by Hillary Clinton with a “Well done, Olivia!” by the former foreign minister.
Tonight, Julianne retweeted the Reid Out interview and announced that the effort has topped $1.1 million.
“Thank you @JoyAnnReid!” she wrote “We raised $1.1 million in less than 72 hours because of one rude comment. Imagine what we can do with a solid year of planning to elect Democrats across the country.”
Thank you @JoyAnnReid! We raised $1.1 million in less than 72 hours because of one rude comment. Imagine what we can do with a solid year of planning to elect Democrats across the country. We are working to do just that. Can’t wait to share ❤️ pic.twitter.com/KvKYwVeIfz — Olivia Julianna 🗳 (@0liviajulianna) July 29, 2022
