'Captain Venmo' Matt Gaetz picks a catfight with educated women and pet owners over abortion rights
Every now and then, people for whom the Universe owes the rest of humanity an apology emerge from the dark recesses of the internet. Early Wednesday morning, United States Congressman Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) anointed himself with that honor. Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for trafficking underage girls for sex, authored a tweet that was awash in cheap misogyny – even by his standards.
Channeling right-wing rage over Monday night's leak of a draft Supreme Court opinion reversing Roe versus Wade and Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania versus Casey – thus stripping Americans of their reproductive liberty – Gaetz further victimized the people who would suffer the most when abortion rights are eliminated.
The embattled lawmaker also swiped at individuals with college educations and feline companions.
"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 catechized into the void.
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?— Matt Gaetz (@Matt Gaetz) 1651659653
Gaetz's desperate claw for attention succeeded. Reactions poured in from the offended – albeit rather bewildered – social media community.
"Sorry I’m back on this one," wrote The Daily Beast's Matt Fuller. "I genuinely can’t think of someone telling us exactly who they are and how they think more succinctly."
Sorry I\u2019m back on this one.\n\nI genuinely can\u2019t think of someone telling us exactly who they are and how they think more succinctly.https://twitter.com/mattgaetz/status/1521797001175834625\u00a0\u2026— Matt Fuller (@Matt Fuller) 1651677997
"Captain Venmo" is throwing some awfully large stones.
What EXACTLY does an over-educated Woman look like? Does she have the ability to detect a lecherous, pathetic, child sex trafficking creep easily?\n\nYou don't need a college education for that, Captain Venmo.— BrooklynDad_Defiant! (@BrooklynDad_Defiant!) 1651677552
I dunno. how many of them are under investigation for taking underage girls across state lines, my venmo-ing dude— Jeff Tiedrich (@Jeff Tiedrich) 1651673848
Matt Gaetz just tried to insult people by saying they're educated and don't sex traffic teenagers.— Steve Hofstetter (@Steve Hofstetter) 1651676463
Its almost as if he is saying we should go back to the days of common law where only certain people were educated because women currently are "over-educated"— Josh (@Josh) 1651678694
You don't like the over-educated, do you Venmatt? Is that why you pay for sex with underage girls?— F. Andy Seidl (@F. Andy Seidl) 1651680306
This is how the Republican Party views you women. I don\u2019t know what more you need to motivate you to get involved in midterms NOW and FIERCELY!!!— Amy Siskind \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Amy Siskind \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1651668620
A rare use of the \u201cmy opponents are very intelligent\u201d line of attack— James Felton (@James Felton) 1651679907
Do you have a bumble account? Do you use Venmo to pay for it?— Andrew C Laufer, Esq (@Andrew C Laufer, Esq) 1651675176
Denying abortions helps sex traffickers. You like that, eh Matt ..— Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f (@Outspoken\u2122\ufe0f) 1651664121
Pet owners, meanwhile, struck back.
Hey Matty Fivehead,\nI\u2019m a college educated Gen X woman who has returned from an abortion rights protest with a smart, sexy man I met while marching.\nAnd unlike you, I didn\u2019t have to Venmo him for sex either.\nI do have cats though. \nSo you got that part right.\nGood job.— Jo \ud83c\udf3b (@Jo \ud83c\udf3b) 1651673841
Wow, that doesn't describe me at all and I was here last night.\n\n* College degree - I wouldn't call that "over educated" \n* Not a millennial \n* Had grilled steak and chicken last night that I cooked\n* Dog owner\n* Married, never been on bumblepic.twitter.com/iv0VMdmWwF— ForgedInFire\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2Team People (@ForgedInFire\ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf2Team People) 1651669630
I have cats. And dogs. A husband of 30 years. 4 grown children and 7 grandchildren. I\u2019m an excellent cook. So is my husband. I have two houses. I run two companies. I don\u2019t think you know who you\u2019re dealing with.— ddd I Stand with Biden (@ddd I Stand with Biden) 1651677639
Hey now. I protest AGAINST abortion and enjoy my microwave dinner with my cats.— Kris Krukowski (@Kris Krukowski) 1651661127
Actually, I fall under the Navy veteran/military spouse/college graduate/proud girl mom with a full-time job that looks after my senior citizen parents and helps my sibling currently fighting cancer. Went to a rally last night and went home to a full house, cat included.— TG 210 (@TG 210) 1651669388
Okay, groomer.
This seems oddly specific, Captain Venmo. \u201cUnder-loved\u201d sounds groomy to me. Which one of @RepMTG\u2019s daughters is lonelier?pic.twitter.com/mGX3CQuyBY— Tara Dublin \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b (@Tara Dublin \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\udde6\ud83c\udf3b) 1651669162
You'd probably like them a lot more if their microwave dinner was Kid Cuisine tho— Mike Drucker (@Mike Drucker) 1651675429
this is such an insane thing to say. we do uber eats now— melissa (@melissa) 1651679993
Gee were you checking out how many are still in high school and not over-educated so that... Well we all know.pic.twitter.com/IGZImzLhUd— Bill M. (@Bill M.) 1651676818
How many of the men rallying for overturning Roe are guys who can't take no for an answer when they get rejected by a woman who's ten-fifteen years too young for them and who'd rather be home alone with their cat?— Cheryl Guerriero (@Cheryl Guerriero) 1651682044
