News/Commentary

‘Don’t be weak and gay’: Bulletproof vest-wearing GOP candidate’s ad gets trigger-warning

May 15, 2024 | | Print Article

A Missouri GOP candidate’s vest-wearing, Tate-tagging campaign spot set off her latest firestorm with a message on what not to be while jogging through an “LGBTQ neighborhood.”

With incumbent Secretary of State John R. Ashcroft (R) seeking the Missouri gubernatorial nomination in 2024, a crowded field that included a number of state legislators announced their candidacy to take his place. Among the hopefuls was real estate investor Valentina Gomez, whose recent suggestion against being “weak and gay” evidently touched a nerve.

Seen jogging down the middle of a street wearing a weighted vest, Gomez could be heard saying, “In America, you can be anything you want, so don’t be weak and gay. Stay f****** hard,” in a similarly captioned post that contended, “August 6th is the day we take Missouri back from these corrupt politicians. @Cobratate @TateTheTalisman…MAGA.”

The candidate’s layers of triggering began with her comments as WCPT820 reported that the block she was exercising in happened to be the “Soulard District in St. Louis, a predominately and historically LGBTQ neighborhood.”

Along with that, Gomez’s video included a sample of Lupe Fiasco’s track “The Show Goes On,” prompting a response from the outspoken anti-homophobia entertainer’s own social media team which wrote, “We are aware and currently taking action. Thank you. #TeamLupe.”

Understandably from the same group that views exercise as “right-wing” and believes a firearm’s appearance alters its lethality, the weighted vest worn by the candidate in the video was mislabeled as a bulletproof vest.

Attempts to mock Gomez over her training gear included one user writing, “Nothing displays weakness more than taking a morning jog with a Kevlar vest on.”

While elsewhere corrected to be exercise equipment, when podcaster Elijah Schaffer highlighted the poster’s picture and described him as “Average @ValentinaForSOS hate,” she responded in part, “He looks weak..tbd on the gay.”

Previously, Gomez had made waves when she employed a flamethrower to send a message about inappropriate content being foisted upon school kids and made clear while setting some ablaze, “When I’m Secretary of State, I will BURN all books that are grooming, indoctrinating, and sexualizing our children. MAGA. America First.”

As her latest promotion closed in on nearly two million views after it was posted late Sunday evening, Gomez followed up with a message referencing retired U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as she asserted, “We used to be strong America. Now there’s a bunch of p****** crying in politics and on social media.”

“I need the lions of America to wake up and help me take this nation back from the weak men and women that have sent that have sent our sons and daughters to die in wars that they profit from,” she continued. “General Flynn said it best, ‘When there’s war, there’s a failure in diplomacy,’ and under President Trump the world was at peace.”

Kevin Haggerty
Latest posts by Kevin Haggerty (see all)

Comment

We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.

Latest Articles