Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) is standing by his controversial comments made about female abortion rights protesters.
While speaking at the Turning Point USA Student Action Summit in Florida Saturday, Gaetz called women protesting the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade unattractive.
“Why is it that the women with the least likelihood of getting pregnant are the ones most worried about having abortions?” Gaetz said. “Nobody wants to impregnate you if you look like a thumb.”
Gaetz also told the crowd that some of the female protesters would do well to “get up and march for like an hour a day, swing those arms, get the blood pumping, maybe mix in a salad.”
WATCH: MEDICAL STUDENTS WALK OUT OF CEREMONY OVER PRO-LIFE KEYNOTE SPEAKER
When asked Monday about what he would say to those who found the comments offensive, the congressman simply stated, “Be offended.”
@RepMattGaetz doubled-down on his comments in our interview this morning.
Q: You’re suggesting that these women at these abortion rallies are ugly and overweight?
A: YesQ: What do you say to people who think those comments are offensive?
A: Be offended. https://t.co/QNyR4tLI3a pic.twitter.com/ytG7rZ2Vrn— Olivia Iverson (@OliviaIversonTV) July 25, 2022
The comments have drawn the ire of many, with some calling them “misogyny” and “absolutely disgusting.”
Absolutely disgusting. It just shows it’s not about the issue, it’s about about inciting, provoking, being more outrageous than the last.
Disgraceful.
— Peter Brown (@SydneyEditor) July 23, 2022
Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America President Marjorie Dannenfelser also called the comments shameful.
SHAME on @mattgaetz for this hideous comment. https://t.co/1hpRrym2QC
— MarjorieDannenfelser (@marjoriesba) July 25, 2022
“I’m very pro-life and I make no apology for it,” Gaetz also told WEAR in defense of his comments over the weekend. “I find these people that go out in these pro-abortion, pro-murder rallies odious — and just, like, ugly on the inside and out. I make no apology for it.”
“I don’t believe that every person who disagrees with my perspective on life is an ugly person, but the ones that are out there protesting and marching on Justice [Brett] Kavanaugh’s home, trying to threaten the court, trying to impose a ‘night of rage’ on our nation’s capital, which is what they advertised, that’s just pure ugliness,” he continued. “I see that ugliness on the inside, I see it on the outside. Even in the horrible circumstance where an abortion may happen, it is nothing to celebrate and it is nothing to cheer.”
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Gaetz is running for reelection in Florida’s 1st Congressional District.
