It’s been around a month since the United States Supreme Court voted in favor of overturning Roe v. Wade. Since the highly controversial decision, there have been a lot of conversations surrounding the topic. On Saturday (July 23), Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz weighed in, basically saying women with certain physical attributes should not be concerned about the court’s decision.
As the politician stood before a crowd of college students for the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, he delivered a shocking speech. Before essentially saying that women he deems less attractive don’t deserve the right to choose what to do with their bodies, he referred to them as people who support murder. “Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies? The people are just disgusting,” he said. Gaetz continued, “Why 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.” There appeared to be mixed reactions from the crowd. Some students are heard gasping, while others laugh and cheer.
The Florida lawyer didn’t stop there. He described women wanting reproductive rights as being “5-foot-2 and 350 pounds.” Gaetz mockingly added, “They’re like, ‘Give me my abortions, or I’ll get up and march and protest.’” He took his insults further by saying, “I’m thinking, ‘March?’ You look like you’ve got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade. A few of them need to get up and march for like an hour a day, swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.”
According to a January post from NBC News, Gaetz spent the beginning of the year being investigated for “sex trafficking [a] 17-year-old; violating the Mann Act, which prohibits taking women across state lines for prostitution; and obstructing justice.” Although he denied the accusations, Twitter users were quick to bring up his past (and his forehead) after Saturday’s comments. “This coming from Rapey McForehead who had to pay for sex and trafficked teens. Sit all the way down,” one person wrote. Another said, “Matt Gaetz is trending, which is a great reminder that a guy whose forehead could be used as a landing strip shouldn’t make jokes about women who look like thumbs.”