Teen bullied by Matt Gaetz raises over $200,000 for abortion rights funds

A Texas teenager has raised more than $200,000 for abortion rights funds, after being bullied online by the Florida Republican congressman Matt Gaetz.

Related: US abortion rights groups step up digital game to reach people online post-Roe

Olivia Julianna, 19, said that by Wednesday she had raised $214,000 for abortion funds, a sum she credited to Gaetz bringing attention to her platform via his insults.

“Matt Gaetz decided to body shame me publicly,” the abortion rights activist tweeted on Tuesday. “So I started fundraising for abortion funds and in a little over 24 hours we raised $115K. So let me have one final moment of telling [Gaetz] not to fuck with Texas activist[s], and definitely not to fuck with Gen-Z.”

On Wednesday, Julianna tweeted that the campaign had raised nearly double its Tuesday total.

She told the Guardian: “Originally I wanted to raise a few thousand dollars. I had no idea it would blow up as much as it has.”

The US supreme court overturned the right to an abortion last month, stoking protests across the country.

Last Saturday, at a Turning Point USA convention in Florida, Gaetz insulted abortion rights activists, telling a crowd of students pro-choice campaigners were “odious from the inside out” and “disgusting”.

Julianna criticized the comments on Twitter, referencing allegations of sex trafficking a minor for which Gaetz is under investigation. He emphatically denies wrongdoing.

“Its come to my attention that Matt Gaetz … has said that it’s always the ‘odious 5’2 350 pound’ women that ‘nobody wants to impregnate’ who rally for abortion,” Julianna wrote. “I’m actually 5’11. 6’4 in heels. I wear them so the small men like you are reminded of your place.”

Gaetz then tweeted out a picture of Julianna alongside an article covering his comments, an insult retweeted hundreds of times.

Of Gaetz’s tweet, Julianna said: “I was shocked. I was truly shocked that he would do something so absolutely stupid.”

In response to the congressman’s comments and the online harassment they stoked, Julianna announced on Monday that she would raise money for abortion funds on behalf of the organization Gen Z for Change.

She said she was motivated to begin her fundraiser because “Matt Gaetz is a creep and abortion is healthcare. Simple as that”.

In a thank you note to Gaetz on Twitter, the teen wrote, in part: “Your hateful comments towards me will quite literally help pay for abortion services. Lol. Get rekt.”

Gaetz has not responded publicly to Julianna’s fundraising efforts but he has doubled down on his comments, calling pro-choice activists “ugly and overweight” in an interview with WEAR ABC 3, a Florida news station.

Joel Valdez, Gaetz’s communications director, commented to Today Parents, writing: “Congressman Gaetz’s speech speaks for itself.” Valdez also shared the followup interview, adding: “He provided further comment here.”

“He’s probably afraid,” said Julianna, referring to Gaetz not replying to her comments or campaign. “Last time ‘Matt Gaetz’ and ‘teenager’ were trending it didn’t exactly go well for him.”