We Asked GOP Lawmakers About Their Own Nominee. Watch Them Bolt.

Summary

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Podcast Summary: "We Asked GOP Lawmakers About Their Own Nominee. Watch Them Bolt."

Podcast: The Bulwark
Hosts: Sam Stein (A), Will Sommer (B), Brendan (D), Guest Speakers (C)
Date: July 23, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the alarming double standards in how political parties, particularly the GOP, treat candidates who have made offensive or unethical statements or been embroiled in scandal. Hosts Sam Stein and Will Sommer explore the case of Texas Republican congressional nominee Brandon Herrera—famous for his crude, offensive, and misogynistic online persona—and highlight other recent GOP primary winners with controversial backgrounds. They discuss the broader implications for party accountability and public standards, and send their colleague Brendan to Capitol Hill to ask Republican lawmakers for comment, with memorable, awkward results.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Brandon Herrera and the GOP’s Response

• Brandon Herrera's Background:

  • Gun YouTuber turned GOP nominee for Texas’s 23rd District (01:03).
  • Known for brash and crude style, beloved by far-right online circles (01:37).

• How He Rose to Prominence:

  • Stepped in after Rep. Tony Gonzalez resigned following a staffer scandal.
  • Unexpectedly won the nomination in a toss-up district (01:28).

• Notable Offensive Quotes from Herrera:

  • Callous jokes about suicide and veterans (02:21).

  • Hitler “hero” joke mocking the nuance of heroism (02:43).

  • Extreme misogyny and crude insult aimed at gun safety activist Shannon Watts (03:45).

    “Just because you let somebody cream pie you doesn't mean I have to give a shit about your political opinions. The fact that you kept your cum trophy…”
    —Brandon Herrera, [03:45]

• Hosts’ Reaction:

  • Both hosts are stunned by the level of offensiveness.

    “Oh my god. Each time I see it, like, what? He's like, you let someone cream pie you. I cringe all over again.”
    —Will Sommer, [04:10]

  • Sam notes, "This guy's gonna be in Congress. This is insane stuff," [04:21].

• Republican Lawmakers’ (Non)Response:

  • Brendan confronts GOP lawmakers in the Texas delegation about Herrera’s comments; most physically recoil or go silent rather than answer (05:21–05:54).

    “Just enjoying a cigar, Brendan walks up and asks you about cum trophies.”
    —Will Sommer, [05:54]

  • The hosts point out the avoidance and refusal to even acknowledge the question.
  • The hypocrisy is highlighted by how quickly another candidate, Graham Platner, was ousted for similarly depraved conduct (06:13).

2. Double Standards and Asymmetry in Party Accountability

• Sam and Will stress the difference in response between parties:
  • Platner (Democratic side) dropped out after scandal.
  • GOP figures like Herrera (even with Trump’s endorsement!) largely face no intra-party consequences (06:39).

    “There’s a real asymmetry between the left and the right where eventually Graham Platner was forced to drop out… but you have figures all the way up to Donald Trump, people who act heinously on their right. And then you see these congressmen just go, ‘I don’t know, man.’”
    —Will Sommer, [06:13]

3. Other Scandal-Plagued GOP Nominees: Mark Lamb in Arizona

• Mark Lamb’s Background:
  • Former sheriff; tried to be the heir to Joe Arpaio’s “bad boy” brand (06:58).
  • Became known for a “Cops”-style streaming network and tough-guy persona.
• Personal Scandal:
  • Lamb and his wife, Mormons, swept up in a swinging scandal—allegedly orchestrating liaisons with a friend’s wife (07:26–08:05).

    “You have the husband and then the… the third is the bull. So, anywho, I don’t know, Mark Lamb is pretty tough guy, maybe I shouldn’t be putting in these terms, but… why is this guy like the king of swinging in our county?”
    —Will Sommer, [08:05]

• Allegations of Abuse of Power:
  • Accused of using his sheriff role to threaten or retaliate against women involved in his affairs (08:37).

    “Lamb once threatened a woman he had sent nudes to, saying he would send state troopers after her.”
    —Sam Stein, [08:37]

4. Broader Implications:

• Sam emphasizes the story is not about sexual behavior per se but about alleged coercion, abuses of authority, and total lack of shame or political accountability (08:37–onward).

  “I’m not going to kink shame… provided you’re not doing something illegal or, you know, putting people in places and positions they don’t want to be. But this is beyond that…”
  —Sam Stein, [08:37]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Brandon Herrera's rhetoric:

  “This guy’s gonna be in Congress. This is insane stuff.” —Sam Stein, [04:21]

• On lawmakers dodging responsibility:

  “Just enjoying a cigar, Brendan walks up and asks you about cum trophies.” —Will Sommer, [05:54]

• On hypocrisy and asymmetry:

  “There’s a real asymmetry… people who act heinously on their right. And then you see these congressmen just go, ‘I don’t know, man.’”
  —Will Sommer, [06:13]

• On Mark Lamb’s scandal:

  “Why is this guy like the king of swinging in our county? What’s going on here?” —Will Sommer, [08:05]

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Important Timestamps

• 00:00–01:03: Introduction, why Herrera is topical
• 01:03–03:09: Herrera’s background and highlights of offensive statements
• 03:45–04:14: Explicit insult aimed at Shannon Watts
• 05:21–05:54: Brendan confronts GOP lawmakers; lawmaker responses (or lack thereof)
• 06:13–06:39: Hosts reflect on asymmetrical party accountability
• 06:58–08:37: Deep dive on Mark Lamb’s swinging scandal and alleged abuses of power

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Tone and Style

The tone is incredulous, darkly humorous, and increasingly exasperated over the normalization of what used to be disqualifying conduct for political office. The hosts aim for blunt honesty and frequently interject with sardonic asides, all while grounding the conversation in reported facts and direct quotes.

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Takeaway

The episode is a pointed, sometimes jaw-dropping exploration of what behavior is now tolerated among GOP nominees, as well as a critique of party leaders and lawmakers who look the other way—or run the other direction—when asked to comment. Listeners come away with a sense of how political standards are changing, and the discomfort that comes from being confronted with where those standards now lie.

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Transcript

[A]

Hey, everyone, it's me, Sam Stein, managing editor at the BO here, my man Will Summer, author of the False Flag newsletter. Just, just publish one on maga, rallying around Andrew Tate. But that's not why we are here, Will. We are here because I am kind of incensed about this. You can tell by how angry I feel. But there is like a real thing going on here, which is that there's a number of Republican candidates for office who have been caught saying, saying depraved things, committing alleged acts of violence, doing the type of stuff that a few weeks ago the entire political universe was rallying around. The idea that Graham Platner was unacceptable for public office because he did similar things or was alleged to have done similar things. So, Will, the thing that really got my goat and the reason I want to do this video with you is a guy named Brandon Herrera who is running as a Republican in the 23rd district of Texas. Before we get into it, can you talk a little bit about Brandon and, and where he comes from and who he is?

[B]

Yeah, Brandon Herrera is a, comes from this background as like a gun YouTuber, essentially one of these guys who goes out in the desert, blows up targets with his guns and says, whoa, look at that one. And in this case, he was, he was real, kind of like the far right characters loved him. But he wasn't expected to win this primary until Tony Gonzalez, the San Antonio incumbent Republic Republican. He had to resign from office after an affair with a staffer who later killed herself.

[A]

So there you go. There, there is consequences. Tony Gonzalez does prove there are occasionally consequences, but that one took a while for him to resign. But anyways, go on, Brendan.

[B]

Yes, and so, so Brendan now has, had, has taken this, you know, he'll, he has the nomination here, but he has a record as a, an edgy, a brash gun YouTuber. Gun YouTube is like, you know, a world I don't super keep up with. But it's, it's like a sort of a crude sort of maga.gun YouTube. Those guys are some bad boys. And so I think that's what we're going to find out here.

[A]

So, yeah, Trump has endorsed this guy. It's kind of, it's, it's a toss up district in Texas. So it's not like this is a safe seat. It's kind of crazy that he's not being thrown or being pushed out by Republicans or not, as many Republicans are turning on him. Among the things that he has said, for instance, if it makes everybody in

[C]

the room feel better, I often think about putting it in my mouth. So I'm basically an honorary veteran.

[A]

Jesus. He. Let's play the Hitler one, and then we're going to get to the, the, the. The thing about. He said about Shannon Watts, but this is a joke he made in which he implies that Hitler is his personal hero. Let's play that one.

[C]

In today's video, we're going to be talking about killing Hitler. You know, I just don't feel like, as a country, we talk about America's heroes like we used to. I mean, if our children are going to look up to anybody, they should be looking up to somebody like the guy who killed Hitler. I may not know his name, but I do know this. The man who killed Hitler has got to be a personal hero of mine. Yes, Hitler killed Hitler.

[A]

You get it? Hitler killed himself, and therefore he's his personal. So stupid. All right, he says some stupider stuff. I'm not going to go through any. But what really popped yesterday was this clip he said, of Shannon Watts, who is one of these gun control advocates who started Mom's Demand Action. I got a warning before we play this clip. It's disgusting and grotesque, like, truly beyond the pale. So if you don't, if you have kids in the car or you're just kind of driving like the. Don't, you know, cover their ears. Here's. Here's Brandon Herrera and Shannon Watts.

[C]

Now, directly to Shannon Watts. Hi, Shannon, longtime viewer, first time caller. First off, I want to get it off my chest. I think Moms Demand Action is fucking stupid. Being a mother doesn't make your opinion any more or less valid. Just because you let somebody cream pie you doesn't mean I have to give a shit about your political opinions. The fact that you kept your cum trophy doesn't make you any less wrong about the dumb shit that you say.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Oh, my God.

[B]

Each time I see it, like, what? He's like, you let someone cream pie you. I like. I cringe all over again.

[A]

This guy's gonna be in Congress. This is insane stuff. I mean, truly grotesque to the parents watching with their kids in the car. I apologize, but this is the news. This is the worldly deal.

[B]

Yeah. It wasn't our choice to make this guy run for Congress.

[A]

These are the people who are going to hold elected office. You gotta at least know what you're dealing with. Okay, so Brandon said that, and we had our own Brendan go to the Hill to ask lawmakers in the Texas delegation how they felt, because again, here's why I'm doing. Everyone's going off on Graham Platner for doing horrible things, rightfully so. But like, you know that this stuff that we just played from Herrera seems just as bad and yet no one's condemning him. So we had our own guy go to the Hill to talk to lawmakers to see what they might say if presented with this. And it's really funny.

[D]

Congressman, quick Texas question. Quick. Representative Brandon Herrera, who's a Republican nominee for House seat in Texas, has called babies. Just in your home state. Brandon Herrera has referred to babies as Tom Trophies.

[B]

I was wondering if you share a little smile.

[D]

No. Congressman, in your home state of there's a Republican Brandon Herrera running for the House who's referred to babies as cum trophies. I was just wondering if you

[B]

just enjoying a cigar, Brendan walks up and asks you about come trophies.

[A]

Well, kudos to Brendan for doing that. I would absolutely have not done it and that's why I don't go to the Hill. I'm not going to ask about come trophies. But what did you make of that? I guess there's nothing else they could say.

[B]

Yeah, I mean, I'm glad we did it. I'm glad Brendan did it. I think it's one of these situations where, as you said, I mean, a lot was made about Graham Platner's Reddit comments, rightfully so. And yet there's this real asymmetry between the left and the right where eventually Graham Platner was forced to drop out of the race. But. But you have figures all the way up to Donald Trump, people who act heinously on their right. And then you see these congressmen just go, I don't know. I don't know, man.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, it's true. But this is the thing. It's not the only. Herrera is not the only one here. So there's a couple others. For instance, this past week in Arizona, they had their primaries. Sheriff Mark Lamb won the Republican primary in one of these. Do you want to go on this one? You want to explain who Mark Lamb is?

[B]

Mark Lamb's a guy I've had my eye on for many years because he's one of these. So he was a sheriff and in Arizona. And he also like sort of tried to claim the Joe Arpaio mantle is like the most famous bad boy sheriff in Arizona. And so he had kind of like a cops type streaming network where, you know, you would get video from his pursuits and what have you. And, and yet. And now he is caught up in a swinging scandal.

[A]

Can you explain the swinging scale.

[B]

Yeah, so. So Mark Lamb and his wife are Mormons, you know, and as folks who watch Real Secret Lives of Mormon Wives.

[A]

Which you do.

[B]

Which I do. Of course, there's these swinging scandals tend to pop up in the Mormon community every so often. And so in this case, a former friend of Mark Lamb's claimed that Mark had sent him basically had sort of arranged liaisons between this friend and Mark Lamb's wife and that these things, you know, had gone down, as it were. And, and, and then basically then the friend's wife had found out about it. The guy who, you know, was sort of the. What you might call the bull in. And so basically.

[D]

Bull.

[B]

Well, yeah, in sort of a cuckold relationship.

[A]

Right.

[B]

You have the husband and then the. The third is the bull. And so the. So, so anywho, I don't know. Mark Lamb is pretty tough guy, maybe I shouldn't be putting in these terms, but basically, then, then the Mormon Church got involved because Mark Lamb was like a prominent figure in the local church and his wife, or the friend's wife was like, why is this guy like the king of swinging in our county? What's going on here? And then additionally, there are some other instances. Apparently he's been very into sexting women.

[A]

Well, I'll read that one. Yeah. So that, so I guess, you know, look, what people want to do and swing and why they want to be the bull or whatever, you know, it is what it is. I'm not going to be. I'm not going to kink shame. You can do what you want here in your household, provided you're not, like, doing something illegal or, you know, putting people in. In places and positions they don't want to be. But this is beyond that because there's a story about what you. What you reference here, which is him using his position of power and authority to threaten women. So here's just reading from it. Lamb, sexual proclivities have followed him since at least 2020, when a political rival complained to the penal County Board of Supervisors that Lamb had targeted women and used his position to cover it up. Lamb once threatened a woman he had sent nudes to, saying he would send state troopers after her.