'Meet the Gun-Toting Influencer Who--Thanks to the Tony Gonzales Scandal--May Soon Be in Congress'

[sop]

"Brandon Herrera — also known as 'the AK guy' — thanked Trump in an interview with TPM for clearing a path for him to make offensive jokes."

“ 'A guy like me could have never run had we not had a President Trump,' Herrera said in an interview with TPM. 'There’s a lot of things that he would say that a Republican candidate could not have said 10, 12, 15 years ago...We don’t have to pretend to be something we’re not,' he added.

"Some call this 'saying the quiet part out loud,' others decry it as a coarsening of public life that repels most people and makes political participation an endless, cynical slog that finds a way to confuse cruelty for honesty."

"Herrera started off his influencer career focusing mostly on guns. He has a video on how to buy a machine gun legally, and documented the process of designing a large gun he calls an 'AK-50' across several videos. After 2020, he started to delve more into politics. Herrera became an outspoken supporter of Kyle Rittenhouse, the Wisconsin man who shot three people during a 2020 protest. After a jury acquitted Rittenouse of homicide and other charges, Herrera posted a video celebrating the verdict that he began by drinking a chaser of beer and then taking three shots. He called the combo 'The Rittenhouse.'"

More at link:

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/meet-the-gun-toting-influencer-who-thanks-to-the-tony-gonzales-scandal-may-soon-be-in-congress

[LetMyPeopleVote]

1. Republican under fire over 'Mein Kampf' podcast admission

I was shocked that Gonzales got more votes in the primary. Gonzales is an asshole who drove a member of his staff to suicide but he may be better than this asshole/nazi

The Republican Jewish Coalition is blasting MAGA-aligned Texas congressional candidate Brandon Herrera after resurfaced podcast comments in which he discussed owning a copy of Adolf Hitler's manifesto "Mein Kampf.

— Raw Story (@rawstory.com) 2026-03-07T04:00:15Z

https://www.rawstory.com/brandon-herrera

The Republican Jewish Coalition is blasting MAGA-aligned Texas congressional candidate Brandon Herrera after resurfaced podcast comments in which he discussed owning a copy of Adolf Hitler’s manifesto "Mein Kampf."

Herrera, a gun rights YouTuber who is now the de facto Republican nominee in Texas’ 23rd congressional district, made the remarks during a 2024 appearance on the “Unsubscribe Podcast” – after his first failed run for the same House seat, according to Jewish Insider.

During the episode, another guest produced a copy of Hitler’s memoir, which prompted Herrera to reveal he also owned a copy and pulled out his phone to show a photo, the publication reported Friday......

But the comments drew a fresh rebuke Friday from the Republican Jewish Coalition.

“The RJC has a longstanding policy of speaking out against those who traffic in Nazi ideology, and this is another case,” spokesperson Sam Markstein said in a statement. “The RJC opposed Mr. Herrera in 2024, and he will not get our support now.”

Herrera’s path to the nomination in the massive border district was cleared when Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who admitted to an affair with a staffer who died in a gruesome suicide last year, announced Thursday he would drop out of the runoff.