In February, Republican Missouri Secretary of State candidate Valentina Gomez burned LGBTQ books. Now, she’s telling Missourians that they shouldn’t be “weak and gay.”
“In America, you can be anything you want,” Gomez said in the video, posted on X on Sunday. “So don’t be weak and gay. Stay fucking hard.”
In the video, Gomez is running while wearing a bulletproof vest. She is then seen in a photo holding a gun and wearing a National Rifle Association hat.
The candidate’s homophobic video earned her an immense amount of backlash on X—including replies that her video was “cringe.”
“Don’t be what?” an X user responded. “Girl, it’s 2024, not 1980.”
“Super cringe,” another person replied.
Gomez made her prejudice against the LGBTQ community known in her February viral video in which she uses a hand torch to destroy books with queer themes—or what she calls “grooming books.”
“When I’m Secretary of State,” Gomez tweeted alongside the video, “I will BURN all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children.”
On her website, Gomez said, if elected, she would protect “children against the transgender agenda” by opposing any medical transition for patients under 18.
“The physical and emotional scars endured by our young ones in the name of the transgender industry are unacceptable,” Gomez said. “And must be halted.”
In addition to aligning herself with former President Donald Trump and Make America Great Again (MAGA), Trump’s infamous 2016 campaign slogan, Gomez also frequently tags far-right influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan Tate, in her social media posts. Both brothers were charged with human trafficking and rape and are awaiting trial, which will be in Romania.
Gomez tagged both Tate brothers in her most recent video and has also posted videos on X in which she references the charges against them.
“They’re trying to put President Trump in jail, just like Andrew and Tristan Tate,” Gomez said in a May 6 video. “If speaking the truth gets you a trip to jail, then I guess I should get my jail bag ready. Good thing I like chains anyways.”
Trump is currently on trial in New York for allegedly falsifying business records and covering up a hush money payment made to adult film actress Stormy Daniels. He was charged with 34 felony counts, which are punishable by imprisonment.
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