A misogynistic streak that a Texas Republican congressional candidate calls comedy is something an extremism researcher says voters should take far more seriously, calling it a documented warning sign tied to real-world violence.
Brandon Herrera, the GOP nominee in Texas' 23rd District and a gun-focused YouTuber known online as "The AK Guy," has for years made vulgar, degrading remarks about women's bodies and intelligence across his videos, podcasts and social media, according to a CNN review of his output. Herrera has dismissed the material as jokes.
Cynthia Miller-Idriss, who directs American University's Polarization and Extremism Research and Innovation Lab and wrote a book on misogyny and violent extremism, reviewed CNN's findings and said the content is more than crude humor. Repeatedly likening women to animals, she said, works to dehumanize them.
"I think if we want a safer society overall, we should also be worried about candidates like this who help normalize things that we know are reliable predictors of political violence," she told CNN.
Herrera rejected that assertion, insisting the remarks were comedy, and turned his fire on his Democratic opponent.
Herrera is running to replace Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-TX), who abandoned his reelection campaign this year amid a House Ethics investigation into his relationship with a former aide, and his opponent, Katy Padilla Stout, is a woman. Party leaders have embraced Herrera anyway as they work to hold a razor-thin House majority in November, with Speaker Mike Johnson campaigning alongside him and President Donald Trump vouching that he "WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN."
Shannon Watts, a gun-safety advocate Herrera has insulted, told CNN that the prospect of him holding power over women's rights "should be terrifying to all women."