LONDON: A far-right Republican congressional candidate in Texas has caused widespread outrage after releasing a campaign video in which she set fire to the Quran and vowed to “stop Islam once and for all.”
Valentina Gomez, a self-styled MAGA influencer running for Texas’s 31st District seat in 2026, appears in the video warning: “Your daughters will be raped, and your sons beheaded, unless we stop Islam once and for all.”
Wearing camouflage pants and a campaign T-shirt emblazoned with the silhouette of a rifle, she uses a flamethrower to burn a copy of Islam’s holy book.
“America is a Christian nation, so those terrorist Muslims can f*** off to any of the 57 Muslim nations. There is only one true God, and that is the God of Israel,” she proclaims, with a song by rapper Kanye West playing in the background.
The video concludes with Gomez saying she is “powered by Jesus Christ,” alongside a campaign logo featuring a bullet as the “i” in “Valentina.”
According to several reports, Gomez has a history of orchestrating violent stunts and using divisive rhetoric aimed at Muslims, Black people, and immigrants to gain attention for her political career, which has so far featured several failed campaigns.
In a previous video, she staged a mock execution of immigrant dummies and called for the “public execution” of undocumented immigrants accused of violent crimes.
Her latest ad — which has since been removed by X for breaching its policy on hateful conduct — was widely condemned by advocacy groups and social media users, who described it as “incitement” and “cheap publicity.”
“This isn’t politics. It’s incitement,” wrote podcaster Brian Allen on X. “When the mosques start burning, remember: this was the match and the Texas GOP handed her the lighter.”
Another user said the MAGA influencer “pathetically disrespects Islam over and over again as a cheap publicity stunt for clout.”
A win. @X ruled Valentina Gomez's dreadful Quran burning video as 'hateful conduct'. More of this please.
Bravo pic.twitter.com/nRAAGw2fRP
— Bushra Shaikh (@Bushra1Shaikh) August 27, 2025
Her Quran-burning ad was also denounced on Tuesday by the Anti-Defamation League, which said the campaign “is fueled by hate and anti-Muslim bigotry. Burning a sacred religious text like the Quran can incite violence and put people in danger. This needs to be condemned by all good people of conscience.”
Gomez is herself an immigrant, having been born in Colombia. Her previous provocations, including disrupting a civic event at the Texas Capitol, were similarly condemned.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro weighed in on social media, saying: “She is not just an American fascist. She is Colombian. And being a migrant, what she wants is to unleash hatred against migrants. Most Americans are killed by Americans.”
