A Texas GOP candidate has drawn scrutiny after video surfaced of him happily boasting about having a copy of Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

(eds. note: glad you specified which Mein Kampf)

Brandon Herrera is the GOP nominee for Texas’ 23rd congressional district after incumbent Tony Gonzales dropped out of his reelection bid following a sex scandal over which MAGA lawmakers called for his resignation. A subsequent ethics investigation ensued after reports surfaced that he had an affair with someone on his staff who later died by suicide.

Meanwhile, Herrera has become the district’s de facto GOP nominee in the wake of departure of Gonzales — who in 2024 called Herrera a “known neo-Nazi” — from the race. (Herrera denied the accusation, saying on X at the time, “This should be obvious, but I am not, nor have I never been a neo-Nazi.”) The firearms manufacturer and YouTuber, who’s known on the internet at “The AK Guy,” went viral on Friday after a video surfaced where he is seen boasting about his copy of Mein Kampf.

Boasting is indeed worrisome, but consider that when my ex and I moved in together, we now had the problem of two copies of Mein Kampf.

We’d both picked up the same translation in adolescence because it was a historical work that offered insights into what passed for Hitler’s thought process.

I’m not saying that’s the case for Herrera by any means, but simply owning a copy does not make one a Nazi.