Assclown Alert is a column of opinion, analysis and snark.
Although it's a pain in the ass to be an incumbent dragged into a runoff, it's a good bet U.S. Rep. Tony Gonzales is feeling some serious schadenfreude as he watches top GOP elected officials line up behind him instead of his runoff opponent — a shambling mess of a candidate the Texas Republican Party helped create.
It's also a good bet neither Gov. Greg Abbott nor Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick care much for Gonzales' bipartisan voting record or willingness to attack the party's right flank as a collection of "scumbags" and KKK members.
Yet the two are smart enough to know that Gonzales' runoff challenger, gun nut and internet troll Brandon "AK Guy" Herrera is the kind of loose-cannon candidate likely to face defeat in a general election. Fearing another Marjorie Taylor Greene in the Capitol, U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson even came to South Texas to stump for Gonzales.
Herrera's surprisingly strong showing in the GOP primary — he took 25% in a four-way race — comes after the Texas Republican Party's executive committee slapped Gonzales with a rare censure. At issue were his votes in favor of the first major gun-control package Congress has passed in decades and a bill codifying protections for same-sex marriage.
By targeting Gonzales, the Texas GOP elevated Herrera's long-shot campaign. In turn, he's shown voters exactly what he's made of thanks to a series of outlandish outbursts that lay bare a temperament not fit for public office.
After joking about veteran suicide and mocking Donald Trump's teenage son, Herrera found time to issue a tweet downplaying the need to show sensitivity about the Robb Elementary massacre — even though Uvalde is in the district he's running to represent.
And then there was the old YouTube clip where Herrera joked about a Nazi submachine gun being the "original ghetto blaster."
What a card!
The Texas GOP may not have handpicked Herrera to run against Gonzales. However, in their eagerness to pander to the extremes of their base, these assclowns helped a turd of a candidacy float to the surface of the cesspool.
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