Valentina Gomez, a GOP candidate and known homophobe vying to be the next Secretary of State of Missouri who was once roasted for telling people not to be "weak and gay," was mocked online after her homophobic rhetoric backfired and cost her the primary.
And it wasn't even close—Gomez received 47,931 votes, amounting to just 7.5% of all those who voted in Missouri's GOP primary election. State Senator Denny Hoskins was declared the winner, winning 24.4% of the vote.
Gomez clearly hasn't learned her lesson, given she posted a video after polling stations closed but votes had not yet been counted in which she claimed she would soon be "catching a pedophile" with the help of far-right influencer Alex Rosen, who uses the handle @iFightForKids.
She said:
"The polls have closed and I want to thank each one of you for putting your faith in me. We have locked up pedophiles, saved children, stood up to tyrants and corrupt politicians, and I would do it 1000 times again.”
"Remember, God qualifies the called and it only takes one wolf to make a difference."
You can hear what she said in the video below.
God qualifies the called. Never sell out and put the people first. I love America. Catching a pedophile with @iFightForKids now pic.twitter.com/xY9obz3dwy
— Valentina Gomez (@ValentinaForSOS) August 7, 2024
It was clear that Gomez, who has made numerous headlines for repeatedly referring to LGBTQ+ people as pedophiles and even made a video this past week calling them “fa***ts," had failed spectacularly despite receiving an inordinate amount of media attention for her bigoted rhetoric.
And what was she even talking about?
The mockery was swift.
Earlier this year, Gomez was criticized for advising Americans not to be "weak and gay" in a bizarre campaign ad showing her jogging in a bulletproof vest and posing with an assault rifle.
Gomez's video attracted the attention of Jason Kander, a Democrat who was previously Secretary of State of Missouri from 2013 to 2017, who said it's "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."
The 24-year-old has courted controversy for a variety of attention-grabbing acts, notably a video in which she employed a flamethrower to incinerate LGBTQ+-friendly books. Her campaign emphasized issues such as "protecting children against the transgender agenda" and "protecting sports — there are only 2 genders."
With all this in mind, one thing is clear: the people of Missouri largely wanted nothing to do with a MAGA candidate with no political experience who did way more trolling than campaigning.
