Brandon Herrera, the MAGA gun YouTuber running for Congress in West Texas, saved one last surprise for Election Day. He posted a photo of his opponent, Katy Padilla Stout, and claimed the guy standing next to her was somebody he’d had inside her campaign. Another gun YouTuber, King Trout, jumped in with a “teehee.”
Then the voters spoke. Padilla Stout, an attorney and former teacher, flipped the seat. Herrera conceded Tuesday night. Don’t let her become a supporting character in a story about two guys embarrassing themselves online.
Those posts show what these guys claimed. They don’t show what this person did, what access he had, or whether Herrera got anything out of it. I spent time in narcotics, and getting somebody through the door isn’t the same as getting information you can use. A selfie isn’t intelligence.
I own guns, and I carried one for a living. Knowing your way around a firearm doesn’t tell me whether you can represent a district. Nobody owes you their vote because you’ve got an audience.
Campaigns run on people showing up and trusting each other. Bragging about exploiting that for a laugh is shitty. I’m not turning a social media post into a crime without facts.
I’m glad he lost. Padilla Stout now has to earn her seat, and she’ll be judged on what she does with it.