Valentina Gomez, the far‑right influencer barred from entering the UK over her Islamophobic comments

Like any influencer, Valentina Gomez thrives on controversy. But this 26-year-old from Colombia is not like any other content creator: her social media platforms promote hatred against Muslims, whom she accuses of being rapists, and against immigrants, despite having been one herself.

What’s more, Gomez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who spells her last name without an accent, is seeking a place in politics. Her most recent campaign to reach Congress in the state of Texas is remembered for a video in which she is seen burning a Quran with a flamethrower. Now, she has returned to the center of controversy: the United Kingdom has banned her from entering the country due to her Islamophobic and racist comments.

Gomez was scheduled to speak at a large far-right rally in London, organized by the controversial activist Tommy Robinson, who advocates for the expulsion of Muslims. A similar rally in September, which Gomez also attended, drew more than 100,000 people and featured a video conference address by the world’s richest man, Elon Musk.

The influencer shared on her social media last Thursday that she had received travel authorization to the United Kingdom — U.S. citizens do not require a visa, only an ETA permit — and sent a message to Prime Minister Keir Starmer: “See you on May 16 in England. [The Government is] only good at protecting the Muslim rape gangs. Try to arrest me and see what happens. England belongs to the English. Not the Mohammeds.”

Following the news, several members of parliament and human rights organizations called on the British government to ban the young woman from entering the country, arguing that she posed a threat to the safety of the approximately four million Muslims in the U.K., representing 6% of the British population. And on Monday, media outlets reported that Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood revoked Gomez’s travel permit, stating that her presence “would not be conducive to the public good.” This is the same argument the British government used to bar entry to rapper Kanye West, who has made several antisemitic remarks in the past.

Gomez was outraged by the news. In a video, she called Minister Mahmood a “dirty Pakistani Muslim” and asserted that, since she couldn’t arrive by plane, she would go by boat, like “rapist pedophile Muslims.” The agitator is confident that if the authorities “dare” to arrest her, the White House will “get involved.”

Gomez was born in Medellín and has lived in the U.S. since she was 10 years old. Her family settled in New Jersey. In several interviews, she has described herself as a genius for graduating from university at 19 and earning an MBA at 21 on a swimming scholarship. One of her brothers is Jonathan Gomez Noriega, a swimmer who represented Colombia at the 2016 Olympic Games.

The influencer worked as a real estate agent before entering politics. Her first attempt to get elected was in 2024, in a Missouri state primary. She lost with just 7.4% of the vote. This year, she tried to become the Republican candidate for Texas’ 31st Congressional District, but also lost in the March primary to John Carter, an 84-year-old congressman who has held a seat in the House of Representatives since 2003.

Gomez, who identifies herself as part of the Republican Party’s MAGA faction, claimed that the election was “rigged” and that it had been “stolen from her,” without specifying whom she was referring to. U.S. President Donald Trump had endorsed Carter to keep his seat, describing him as a “reliable conservative.”

The far-right agitator, who has amassed over 1.2 million followers across Instagram and X, is a Christian and identifies as a “woman of God.” In most of her videos, she speaks directly to the camera, proposing Islamophobic and racist ideas. Her suggestions include banning women from wearing the hijab, the public execution of migrants who commit crimes, and the destruction of mosques in Texas. She frequently appears in her posts with some type of weapon, such as rifles, bows and arrows, or the flamethrower she used to burn the Quran.

The controversy with the United Kingdom has paid off, and Gomez’s accounts have surged in visibility. The video in which she claims she will arrive in British territory by boat has already surpassed 4 million views on X. According to Gomez, she will travel to England with active‑duty and retired military personnel. In her subsequent posts, she has escalated her attacks on Minister Mahmood, arguing that the minister “doesn’t only protect rapists and murderers; she also protects terrorists.”

Shaista Gohir, an independent MP and leader of the U.K. Muslim Women’s Network, welcomed the government’s decision to the British press: “I am pleased that the home secretary has listened to concerns and acted swiftly. They have rightly recognised the danger [Gomez] posed. Had she been allowed into the U.K., then it would have sent a message that Muslim safety does not matter.”

If Gomez follows through on her promise to travel to England, the content creator could shake up diplomatic relations between Washington and London.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter to get more English-language news coverage from EL PAÍS USA Edition