Democrats criticized a Republican candidate for secretary of state in Missouri over a recently posted video in which she advised voters not to be “weak and gay.”
At the video posted to her X account on Sunday, Republican Valentina Gomez is seen running down a street, wearing a bulky vest, with the song “The Show Goes On” by rapper Lupe Fiasco playing in the background.
“In America, you can be whatever you want,” says Gomez. “So don’t be weak and gay. Stay strong.
Democrats and LGBTQ rights groups criticized Gomez for the comment.
“For all LGBTQIA Missourians, your existence should not be used as a political football,” said Missouri State House Minority Leader Crystal Quade (D), also running for governor of Missouri. he said in a post on the social platform X Tuesday.
“You are loved and you belong in Missouri and I will not stop until our laws reflect that.”
“It’s so refreshing to see a Republican candidate who has never served in the military doing the whole veteran cosplay, stolen valor, intolerance as a substitute for strength routine as well as any man,” said the former Missouri Secretary of State, Jason Kander (D) on Tuesday in a post responding to Gomez’s video.
Gomez shot Kander in a to respondstating that she serves “Jesus Christ and the people of Missouri.”
“My brother is currently in the military and the vest makes it harder for me to run,” she said. “You should probably get one too, since you suck at baseball.”
“I also sometimes wear armor when I run,” Kander responded in another post. “Normally for fitness, not for bad David Goggins impressions. Good luck with your urgent need for Internet fame. Oh, sorry, I mean with your ‘campaign’.”
Goggins is an ultramarathon runner and retired Navy SEAL.
Lupe Fiasco’s X account said Tuesday that the rapper’s team is “aware and currently taking action” in apparent reference to the outcry over the video.
Brandon Wolf, national press secretary for LGBTQ advocacy group the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), also responded to Gomez’s video in an X Tuesday post.
“’Don’t be weak and gay’ extremely underestimates the strength it takes to coexist with idiots like this every day,” he said.
Earlier this year, Gomez posted a campaign video of herself setting LGBTQ-inclusive books on fire.
“This is what I will do with prep books when I become Secretary of State,” she said in the video.
This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story
