Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz was called out after he said women who "look like a thumb" shouldn't concern themselves with advocating for abortion rights.
Gaetz's remarks were his latest dig at reproductive rights activists since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, the 1973 landmark decision that once protected a person's right to choose reproductive healthcare without excessive government restriction.
During a speech he gave at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa over the weekend, Gaetz said "women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions" at "pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies."
He suggested instead of marching at rallies, unattractive women should "march for like an hour a day" and "get the blood pumpin'."
You can hear what Gaetz said in the video below.
\u201cGaetz: "Why is it 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."\u201d— Aaron Rupar (@Aaron Rupar) 1658611196
Gaetz said:
“Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies?”
"The people are just disgusting. Why is it 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 from the inside out."
“They’re like 5′2,″ 350 pounds, and they’re like, ‘Give me my abortions or I’ll get up and march and protest.’”
“A few of them 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 pumpin’, maybe mix in a salad.”
Gaetz's remarks were swiftly condemned for his sexist and misogynist commentary.
\u201cMatt Gaetz crystallizes right wing policy platform 100 days from the midterm elections: \u201cOnly hot women will have rights.\u201d\u201d— Shannon Watts (@Shannon Watts) 1658756484
\u201cThese are the kinds of people the centrists be insisting we need to appease and have good-faith discussions with\u201d— Olayemi Olurin (@Olayemi Olurin) 1658720223
\u201cWow. This is horrible.\u201d— Laura Wright (@Laura Wright) 1658674383
\u201cas long as the trope of the \u201cugly feminist\u201d is used to convince people that women don\u2019t need or deserve human rights, beauty is political\u201d— Jessica DeFino (@Jessica DeFino) 1658674358
\u201cRemember when misogyny used to sometimes be a little bit subtle\u201d— Kate Manne (@Kate Manne) 1658684907
\u201cMatt \u201cVenmo\u201d Gaetz showing why he has to pay women to be around him.\u201d— Nick Knudsen \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Nick Knudsen \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1658686851
\u201cIf you hold any respect for Matt Gaetz,\nI hold no respect for you.\u201d— Randy Stine (@Randy Stine) 1658688153
\u201cWhatever your views on abortion, whatever your gender (or size), this comment\u2014and the crowd roaring with laughter in response\u2014is breathtakingly offensive. How did it become OK to say such things from a public stage?\u201d— Peter Elkind (@Peter Elkind) 1658690318
\u201cThere was a time not long ago when misogyny this toxic and gross would be the end of your political career\u201d— Michael Cohen (@Michael Cohen) 1658719888
Gaetz's attack denigrating reproductive rights activists' appearances brings to mind a similar remark he made in May shortly after a leaked draft opinion indicated the Supreme Court's ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization would move to strike down Roe.
Gaetz was heavily criticized after he referred to pro-choice activists as "over-educated, under-loved millennials" and suggested they're only angry about a rightward shift in reproductive rights because they can't get matches on dating apps.
Writing on Twitter, he said women protesting the fall of Roe will likely "sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats" and "no matches" on Bumble, a popular online dating application.
