Gaetz called abortion rights protestors 'over-educated, under-loved.' His opponents responded.

FORT WALTON BEACH — Opponents of U.S. Rep. Matt Gaetz found irony in the sitting congressman's recent viral Tweet calling abortion rights activists "over-educated, under-loved millennials."

Gaetz, R-Fort Walton Beach, a self-styled congressional "firebrand," took to Twitter as demonstrations erupted across the country when it was revealed that a draft decision by the sitting Supreme Court could portend the eventual overturning of the historic Roe v. Wade decision that made abortion legal in the United States.

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"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 tweeted.

Rebekah Jones and Margaret "Peggy" Schiller, both Democrats seeking Florida's First Congressional District seat, each referenced a federal investigation into allegations that Gaetz traveled out of state to have sex with a 17-year-old girl in initial reactions to the tweet.

"I think coming from a guy who pays underaged teens for sex, and is himself a millennial over-educated with a law degree, he's throwing lots of stones," said Jones.

News that Gaetz was being investigated into whether he had trafficked in sex with a minor was reported for the first time more than a year ago. He denies he committed any crimes and charges have yet to be filed against him. A former cohort, Joel Greenberg, has pleaded guilty to sex trafficking crimes and is said to be cooperating with authorities investigating Gaetz.

"How many of the men trying to suppress #WomensRights are under child sex trafficking investigations?" Schiller asked in her Twitter response.

On Friday, she said a more thorough discussion of Gaetz's comment was probably warranted.

"I admit to making a flip remark about it on Twitter. I thought then that was about all it warranted," she said. "But when you think about it, it is on many levels offensive."

Schiller said that while she would never personally have an abortion and is "pro keeping a pregnancy going" in most cases, she also feels "there are too many instances that could be life and death decision for a mother, where the preservation of the mental or physical health of a mother is at stake" to dismiss the Roe v. Wade ruling out of hand.

She said she also finds it hard to accept her son has somehow been gifted a greater right to make personal decisions than has her daughter.

"To make a comment like that is offensive to all women in general," she said of the Gaetz tweet. "I wonder how his wife, mother and sister feel about it."

Jones said with his tweet Gaetz displayed a "trademark tendency."

"It shows a lack of empathy and a tendency to be abusive toward women," she said. "What kind of firebrand mocks the people he was elected to serve from the safety of a cushion of a Twitter account?"

Jones said she's observed "a dramatic change in behavior" in Gaetz over the last several years and questions his stability.

"He's completely out of touch with America and our community, which he might know if he came around more than once a month or so," she said.

Schiller said she thinks Gaetz says the outrageous things he does as some sort of rehearsal for a job as a conservative commentator.

"To be frank, Gaetz has to go," she said. "He's not in the business of representing Florida's First Congressional District."

Gaetz did not respond to a request for comment.

Michelle Salzman, a Republican representing the state House District 1 seat, and Regina Piazza, who is running as a Republican for the District 2 state Senate seat, declined to comment.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Gaetz calls abortion rights protesters 'over-educated, under-loved'