Republican Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl, is under fire on social media after making fat-phobic and misogynist remarks about abortion rights activists to an audience of college students on Saturday, calling people protesting in support of abortion “disgusting.”
“Have you watched these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies?” the Florida congressman asked the teenagers gathered at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida.
“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,” Gaetz commented.
“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.’ And I’m thinking —march? You look like you got ankles weaker than the legal reasoning behind Roe v. Wade,” he said to a cheering crowd.
“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,” he concluded.
Gaetz’ tirade provoked widespread condemnation from critics on social media.
Feminist news website Jezebel called his comments “cartoonishly misogynist.”
Journalist Molly Jong-Fast shared a clip from Gaetz’ speech on Twitter, pointing at the congressman’s words as a definition of misogyny.
Many criticizing the congressman and his comments brought up the scandal Gaetz has been been engulfed in since last year, when The New York Times revealed that he was being investigated by the Justice Department for the alleged sex trafficking of a 17-year-old girl.
The federal investigation into Gaetz was reportedly opened in the final months of the Donald Trump‘s administration as a result of a previous investigation into a political ally of the Florida congressman, Joel Greenberg, who pleaded guilty to sex trafficking.
Over a year later, investigators are still trying to determine whether Gaetz had sexual relations with an underage girl and paid for her to travel with him across states, considered sex trafficking under federal law.
Only a few details of the investigation have been leaked so far. Gaetz has not been charged with any crime.
The Washington Post reported that Gaetz used to set up dates with women in exchange for dinner or hotel stays, something that could be illegal if…
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