President Donald Trump has endorsed Brandon Herrera, a Texas congressional candidate who previously mocked Trump’s youngest son, Barron, and predicted the president would lose the 2024 election. The endorsement is a dramatic reversal from just weeks ago, when Donald Trump’s legal team sent Herrera a cease-and-desist letter.
It was over the unauthorized use of Trump’s image in campaign materials. Now, with shifting dynamics in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District race, Trump is throwing his full support behind the 30-year-old YouTuber.
Donald Trump endorses candidate who made comments on Barron
Despite Herrera’s past remarks about Barron, Donald Trump appeared to brush aside the comments when announcing his endorsement on March 11 on Truth Social. “Brandon Herrera has my Complete and Total Endorsement to be the next Representative from Texas’ 23rd Congressional District — HE WILL NEVER LET YOU DOWN!” Trump wrote.
On a February 2024 episode of his podcast, Herrera joined co-hosts in ridiculing then-17-year-old Barron Trump. One co-host referred to Barron as a “long ventriloquist-like,” while another said Donald Trump’s son “looks like a bully.” The YouTuber quipped that Barron is “like nine feet tall” and “starting to become a meme,” before making a mocking voice imitating him: “Daddy is coming, Daddy is angry.”
Furthermore, the gun rights advocate, who describes himself as an “absolutist,” had also cast doubt on Trump’s political future. On an August 2023 podcast, Herrera questioned whether Trump could win back the White House, stating, “I just don’t know if he can carry the actual election.”
Despite his skepticism about Trump’s electability, Herrera acknowledged he “really enjoyed Trump’s presidency.” Meanwhile, criticizing the president’s record on gun policy, saying Trump “messed up a lot of stuff as far as like guns and things.”
Now, the endorsement comes after Rep. Tony Gonzales, the Republican incumbent Trump had initially backed, dropped his re-election bid. Herrera had been running against Gonzales in the primary, forcing Trump to choose a new candidate in the race.
Originally written by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
