Florida Republican Representative Matt Gaetz said Monday that men were being distracted from voting, just like in the 2023 Barbie movie, as more women have reportedly voted early.
The Congressman, whose wife, Ginger Gaetz, was among those calling for a boycott of the box office hit over its “woke” message, shared a GIF of Margot Robbie as the titular character in reaction to a plea for more men to vote in the next 24 hours.
“The core plot of the Barbie movie was distracting men so they wouldn’t vote,” Gaetz said on X, formerly Twitter. “Don’t make the Barbie movie come true.”
Over 38 million U.S. voters had cast their votes already, as of Nov. 2, either by mail-in ballot or through early voting. Over 54 percent of those early voters were women, the University of Florida’s Election Lab said.
A concern for the GOP appears to be that more women are set to vote for Vice President Kamala Harris, while men are more likely to vote for former President Donald Trump.
Analysis of polls by Newsweek showed that, on average, Harris has the support of 52 percent of female voters and 43 percent of male voters. Meanwhile, 53 percent of male voters back Trump compared to 44 percent of female voters.
Gaetz’s assertion on social media that there was an effort in the movie to distract men from voting was affirmed by his office, with a spokesperson telling Newsweek that the post “speaks for itself.”
The movie depicts the Barbies in top jobs and leadership roles, while the Kens often spend their days playing at the beach. In a rebellion, the men take over and brainwash the women into becoming more submissive partners, but once Robbie’s Barbie returns from the human world, the women take charge and then seek to work toward equal rights for Barbies and Kens.
Notably, Gaetz attended the Barbie premiere at the British embassy in Washington, D.C., along with his wife, who later criticized the film.
The struggle to engage voters is nothing new, but both campaigns have made a concerted effort in recent weeks to get undecided voters, or those who assume their state is safe for either party, to participate.
Trump has appeared on podcasts aimed at younger male voters, including Joe Rogan’s popular show, while also bringing in figures such as Elon Musk and Hulk Hogan onto the stage with him at rallies, in an effort to appeal to male voters. That voting group, however, tends to not vote at the rates other demographics do.
Harris’ stance on reproductive health, including defending the right to an abortion, has seen her support from women surge, while the campaign has also focused its messaging on this issue toward men and fathers in recent weeks.
At a rally in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Oct. 26, former First Lady Michelle Obama pleaded with men to think of their girlfriends, wives, mothers, daughters or sisters when voting, as she gave examples of the dire situations that women had found themselves in since the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022.
Campaign ads have also focused on the topic, pointed toward male voters, while Trump has sought to appeal to women by saying he will be their “protector” if he returns to the White House.
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