Matt Gaetz’s Comments on the Supreme Court’s Roe Repeal Are Really Gross, Even for Him

There have been a lot of terrible right-wing reactions to the news that the Supreme Court plans to overturn Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey, which offer constitutional protections for abortion. Not one to be left out, Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz has entered the fray with a truly abhorrent take.

“How many of the women rallying against overturning Roe are over-educated, under-loved millennials who sadly return from protests to a lonely microwave dinner with their cats, and no bumble matches?” Gaetz wrote on Twitter Wednesday morning.

That is an elected U.S. Representative mocking the fear and anger being felt by people across the country right now. Just remember that the next time some conservative media pundit or elected official bemoans the lack of “civility” on the left.

There’s so much disgusting rhetoric packed into this one tweet, but I do wonder what Gaetz’s definition of “over-educated” is. It’s a weird and misogynistic term on its own but for someone who has been making headlines for more than a year thanks largely to his admitted relationships with very young women (and alleged relationships with at least one underage teen girl), this language seems especially ill-advised.

Gaetz’s tweet is a shockingly (even for him) insulting message to women, and a clear illustration of the pernicious right-wing view that the only appropriate way for a woman to exist is to be uneducated, demure, and endlessly grateful to men for whatever rights and liberties they happen to think we deserve to have.

The belief on display here is that the only women who could want full bodily autonomy are angry, lonely, and otherwise defective women. Matt Gaetz may have put that message in the crudest terms possible but he’s certainly not alone in that view.

On top of all of this, Gaetz’s comments aren’t just insulting to women, they’re woefully out of touch with the people he’s supposed to represent. The majority of Americans believe the Supreme Court should leave Roe v. Wade in place, with a full 70% of people consistently saying the decision to have an abortion should be left up to a pregnant person and their doctor according to multiple polls between 2019 and 2022.

Gaetz’s deliberate ignorance on the subject is just announcing to the world that he’s bad at his job.

Sincerely, an “over-educated,” very loved millennial and excellent cook with three cats, one husband, and no federal investigations.

(image: Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com

Author

Close

Vivian Kane

Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

twitter