Trump backs extremist gun influencer for Texas seat, sparking GOP alarm

During a Legal AF: Civil Action podcast episode, trial lawyer Shant A. Karnikian cautioned that Donald Trump's full endorsement of Brandon Herrera, the gun-influencer known as “The AK Guy,” may backfire on the Republican Party. Herrera, now the GOP nominee for Texas’s 23rd Congressional District, has a documented history of sharing Nazi imagery, owning a copy of Mein Kampf, and making jokes about the Holocaust and veteran suicides.

Earlier, Trump’s legal team sent Herrera a cease-and-desist to stop using Trump’s likeness, but the endorsement resurfaced after other Republican options vanished. The hosts pointed to $2.7 million routed to Herrera through the Texas Strategy Group and described the move as evidence of GOP desperation. They also noted that Herrera will face Democrat Katy Padilla Stout, who is running on child-welfare and education issues, in a race that polls suggest is tightly contested. The discussion underscores internal tensions within the party over candidate vetting and campaign financing.