‘Insecure and desperate’: Controversial campaign ad from MAGA candidate sparks online fury

Congressional candidate Valentina Gomez, a loyal supporter of President Donald Trump running for office as a Republican in Texas, has sparked outrage and fury from her latest campaign ad that depicts her using a flamethrower to burn a copy of the Quran, the central religious text of Islam.

“Valentina Gomez not only burnt the Quran, but she has also called for the murder of all two billion Muslims on X,” wrote X user Khalissee on Monday, who reports on “alternative media and news” and has amassed nearly 400,000 followers. “This is what some people do for clout. Why is she allowed to incite hate and murder with zero consequences?”

Gomez, the once-failed candidate for Missouri secretary of state, launched a bid for Congress back in February, and is hoping to unseat sitting Rep. John Carter (R-TX). A 25-year-old Columbia native, Gomez describes herself as an “America first-MAGA” candidate, and is no stranger to engaging in provocative rhetoric.

Her latest video ad shows her dousing a copy of the Quran in flames while pledging to “stop Islam once and for all,” and telling Muslims to “f— off” to “any of the 57 Muslim nations.” The song “Selah” by Ye, who legally changed his name from Kanye West, can be heard playing in the background. Ye drew scrutiny himself in 2022 and earlier this year for praising Adolf Hitler and making antisemitic comments.

Reactions to the ad were strong online. Dilly Hussain, deputy editor at the UK-based news publication 5Pillars, called the ad "desperate," and condemned Valentina as “low IQ.”

“Projection, insecure, and desperate,” Hussain wrote on X Monday. “Valentina is a low IQ try-hard who overcompensates for the fact that she will most likely end up on (OnlyFans) than congress.”

Brian Allen, who hosts “The Allen Pod” podcast and has amassed nearly 200,000 followers on X, said that the campaign ad rose to the level of “incitement,” and warned that such rhetoric could have real-world consequences.

“This isn’t politics,” Allen wrote on X Monday. “It’s incitement. When the mosques start burning, remember: this was the match and the Texas GOP handed her the lighter.”

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