Watch: Republican Candidate Valentina Gomez Uses Flamethrower to Burn LGBTQ-Friendly Books
In a completely unhinged show of political pandering, Republican candidate for Missouri Secretary of State Valentina Gomez posted a campaign video Tuesday in which she used a flamethrower to torch LGBTQ-friendly books.
Posted to X, Facebook and Instagram, the video seemed to be aimed at Missouri's rightwing voters as Gomez declared, "This is what I will do to the grooming books when I become secretary of state."
She then proceeded to torch the books. "These books come from a Missouri public library. When I'm in office, they will burn," she said. with "MAGA" and "America First" tagged in her post.
While Gomez definitely has a particular population she is hoping to appeal to, others were downright disturbed by her message. X even restricted the her post's visibility because it "may violate X's rules against Hateful Conduct."
Kathy Belge, who is one of the authors of "Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Guide for Teens," said everyone "should be concerned that a candidate for public office not only thinks book burning is acceptable, but that it is something that will help her get elected."
"My book 'Queer: The Ultimate LGBTQ Book for Teens' was written to give teens accurate and helpful information about what it means to be part of the LGBTQ community," she explained.
Explaining Gomez's campaign message, her campaign director Maicoll Gomez said the implication is "simple."
"You want to be gay? Fine be gay. Just don't do it around children," he said in a statement. "Stop putting books in libraries about sexualization, indoctrination and grooming of children. Children need to learn mathematics, science, developing their people skills, getting fit, while protecting their innocence. Not learning the ideologies that the radical left loves to push on children. I am against all drag shows around children, pride flags in classrooms, teachers with pronouns, people wanting to 'change' genders, and people that can't even define what a woman is. If genitals don't define gender, how does removing them affirm it. I only fear God."
Gomez's campaign director reportedly declined to respond to the criticism over the video. See the totally unhinged moment below.