KEY POINTS

  • Olivia Julianna had a heated exchange with Gaetz following his last week's comments
  • She says she is now receiving homophobic messages from alleged Gaetz supporters
  • Gaetz had criticized the physical appearance of pro-abortion activists, calling them "ugly and overweight"

Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla., has been accused of directing his followers to virtually bully a teenage abortion rights activist whom he had allegedly body-shamed over the weekend.

Nineteen-year-old Olivia Julianna, from Houston, shared on Twitter the screenshot of a scathing text she received from an alleged Gaetz supporter. The message was laced with homophobia and "fatphobia," and it further supported Gaetz's derisive remarks about abortion activists.

"This is what happens when a sitting Republican congressmen body shames and blasts you on social media. Matt Gaetz intentionally directed his followers to harass a teenage girl. This is the Republican Party. These are their leaders," Julianna wrote alongside the message.

She also "thanked" Gaetz for helping her raise money for the nonprofit Gen-Z for Change's abortion fund.

"I'd like to give a special thanks to @mattgaetz for body shaming me to his audience. 2 hours ago I started fundraising for the @genzforchange abortion fund because of your comments, and so far we've raised $13K for abortion funds across the country."

Gaetz criticized the physical appearance of pro-abortion activists when he spoke at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit on Saturday. "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," he said.

Gaetz went into details next, saying, "They're like 5'2", 350 lbs., 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."

"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 pumping, maybe mix in a salad," Gaetz added.

Gaetz's comments didn't go down well with social media users as they condemned his comments. In fact, a tweet from a news outlet read, "Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz blasted abortion activists in a rant sure to raise dander of his political opponents." In response, Gaetz shared a photo of Julianna and wrote, "Dander raised."

Julianna fired back and reminded Gaetz about the ongoing investigation against him for alleged sex crimes with a minor. "Am I not a little too old for you Matt? I know you have a thing for targeting teenagers but 19 is on the cusp don't you think?"

Gaetz didn't back down either and reiterated that women at pro-abortion rallies are "ugly and overweight" and people who find these comments disrespectful can continue to remain offended.

Matt Gaetz, a US congressman from Florida, addressed the first night of the Republican National Convention which was largely being held virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic
Matt Gaetz, a US congressman from Florida, addressed the first night of the Republican National Convention which was largely being held virtually amid the coronavirus pandemic Republican National Convention / -