Texas Candidate Ignites Global Outrage with Quran Flamethrower Stunt
Valentina Gomez, a 26-year-old Republican running in Texas, posted a video declaring “end Islam” before torching Islam’s holy book — drawing condemnation across the Muslim world.
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An obscure U.S. congressional hopeful has thrust herself into international headlines after uploading a shocking video in which she burned a copy of the Quran with a flamethrower.
Valentina Gomez, 26, who is running for Congress in Texas’s 31st district, was filmed declaring: “If we don’t stop Islam, your daughters will be raped and your sons beheaded.” Moments later, she ignited the Muslim holy book, proclaiming that “America is a Christian nation” and that “only the God of Israel is real.”
The footage ricocheted through Arab satellite networks, from Al Jazeera to Lebanese and Moroccan outlets, sparking outrage online. Commenters accused Gomez of desecrating sacred faith, with some warning she would face “punishment from heaven.”
Houthi spokesman Nasser al-Din Amer used the moment to denounce the U.S., claiming Gomez was “funded by the Zionist lobby” and that in America “only Zionism is sacred.”
Even within the U.S., critics decried the spectacle as hate-mongering and self-endangering. Political observers noted Gomez is considered a fringe candidate with little electoral chance, but her provocative stunts, including past posts calling for executions of immigrants and anti-LGBTQ rants, have repeatedly landed her in the spotlight.
Incidents of Quran magaburning have previously provoked deadly repercussions worldwide, from riots to targeted killings of perpetrators.