A GOP candidate vying to be the next Secretary of State of Missouri was widely mocked after sharing a video of herself jogging in a bulletproof vest and posing with an assault rifle in a bizarre campaign ad.
The video shows Valentina Gomez running in the middle of a street while wearing a bulletproof vest and athletic shorts as she delivers the following homophobic message:
"In America, you can be anything you want. So don’t be weak and gay. Stay f**king hard.”
The 11-second video concludes with a shot of her posing with an assault weapon.
You can see the ad below.
Gomez's video attracted the attention of Jason Kander, a Democrat who was previously Secretary of State of Missouri from 2013 to 2017.
Kander issued some sarcastic praise:
So refreshing to see a female GOP candidate who never served in the military doing the whole veteran cosplay, stolen valor, bigotry as a substitute for strength routine as well as any man."
You can see his post below.
Gomez later responded to him by asserting her Christian beliefs:
"I serve Jesus Christ and the people of Missouri. My brother is a current service member, and the vest is to make my runs harder. You should probably get one too since you suck at baseball."
You can see her response below.
Kander took her to task for this statement too, writing:
"My brother is an engineer but I don’t make that my entire personality. I also wear body armor when I run sometimes. Usually for fitness, not for bad David Goggins impressions."
"Good luck with your burning need for Internet Fame. Oh, sorry, I mean with your “campaign.”"
You can see his post below.
Others were also quick to criticize Gomez over her strange ad.
Gomez is among several Republicans vying to become the party's candidate for Missouri's Secretary of State. The incumbent, Republican Jay Ashcroft, is leaving the position vacant as he pursues a run for governor.
Gomez has previously made headlines for a variety of attention-grabbing acts, notably a video in which she employed a flamethrower to incinerate LGBTQ+ friendly books. Her campaign emphasizes issues such as "protecting children against the transgender agenda" and "protecting sports — there are only 2 genders."
The 24-year-old is peak MAGA, backing former President Donald Trump's "Big Lie" that the 2020 election was stolen from him. A central pledge highlighted on her website is the elimination of electronic voting machines in favor of transitioning to universal paper-ballot hand counting, a false stance in line with a prevalent belief among MAGA supporters that these machines enable election fraud.
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