Matt Gaetz Mocked a Pro-Choice Activist on Twitter. She’s Now Raised Over $600K for Abortion Funds, Gotten a Shout-Out from Hillary Clinton

Natalie KorachJul 28th, 2022, 4:04 pm
 
Congressman Matt Gaetz

Photo by Mandel Ngan-Pool/Getty Images

When 19-year-old Olivia Julianna was publicly body-shamed on Twitter by none other than Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), she turned the insult into a campaign for abortion rights.

Gaetz has doubled down on comments he made last week about the appearance of women who support abortion rights in the United States, suggesting that they are “ugly and overweight.” When pressed about his comments, Gaetz did not backtrack asserting that if people are offended that is their own problem.

The Republican Congressman has recently been under fire for sex trafficking and sexual misconduct allegations, a situation that is being investigated by the Justice Department.

Julianna saw the comments that Gaetz made during his speaking engagement about abortion rights advocates and fought back on Twitter, invoking the allegations against the congressman.

In apparent retaliation, Gaetz responded with a quote-tweet of a Newsmax article regarding his comments, the caption reading “Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz blasted abortion activists in a rant sure to raise dander of his political opponents.”

Gaetz additionally included an attachment of Julianna’s photo along with the words “Dander raised.” The abortion rights activist replied, invoking the sexual misconduct allegations that have been brought against Gaetz.

In response to the attack by the congressman, Julianna announced a fundraising effort on behalf of the nonprofit Gen Z for Change, which splits all donations evenly among 50 abortion funds across the United States. As of 12:30 pm EST on Thursday, the fund had raised $689,534.90 for the choice abortion fund.

Julianna has continued to fight back against Gaetz by urging her growing platform to donate to the cause.

The abortion rights activist additionally thanked Gaetz for motivating people to donate to the fund and pledged to send a bouquet of flowers to the congressman for every hundred thousand dollars raised.

Julianna has received a lot of attention since Gaetz attacked her on Twitter, with many praising her for her efforts to continue fighting back. Even Former Secretary of State and First Lady, Hillary Clinton tweeted in support of the activist.

On Tuesday, the House of Representatives voted to overwhelmingly support the reauthorization of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act. 20 Republicans voted against the measure including Gaetz, amid his Department of Justice investigation. Gaetz has denied allegations of having a sexual relationship with a 17-year-old, who may have been sexually trafficked.

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