Olivia Julianna, a 19-year-old abortion rights activist with the group Gen-Z for Change, tweeted on Tuesday that she’s raised over $50,000 for her organization’s abortion fund after Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) body shamed her on Twitter.
Julianna had fired back at Gaetz after his cartoonishly misogynistic comments over the weekend saying that the women who most fervently support abortion rights are too ugly to need them. “Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?” Gaetz told a group of young Republicans at Turning Point USA’s Student Action Summit in Tampa, Florida, on Saturday. “Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb.”
“These people are odious from the inside out,” added Gaetz, who’s currently under federal investigation for sex trafficking. “They’re like 5′ 2″, 350 pounds, and they’re like, ‘Give me my abortions or I’ll get up and march and protest.’”
Julianna fired back at those comments Sunday on Twitter, writing: “I’m actually 5'11. 6'4 in heels. I wear them so small men like you are reminded of your place.”
Gaetz, an actual sitting U.S. congressman, responded by posting a photo of Julianna to emphasize his point.
Julianna, who says she’s faced intense harassment from Gaetz’s supporters online, then took the opportunity to fundraise for abortion rights.
As she racked up money for abortion access, Julianna told Newsweek that Gaetz has “just learned a valuable lesson that should be echoed to every Republican who thinks about crossing or targeting me—don’t mess with Texas women. I’m not just a teenager, I’m an abortion rights activist and a political strategist—and a damn good one at that.”
It would be irresponsible not to note, at this point in the story, that this is a very unusual interaction for Gaetz to have with a teenage girl—usually he just pays underage women for sex via Venmo without toggling the “private” button on the interaction. You’d think he’d care a lot about teenagers having abortion rights! Go straight to prison, Matt.