But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check
Brandon Herrera
Republican · U.S. House, Texas District 23
?Mixed
How this mark works
We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.
Two reviewers, reading the public record as a whole, agree: He would stop paying for Israel's military aid until the debt is paid down but wants to keep selling Israel weapons, so his words point both ways. Reviewed by hand on 2026-10-01. This candidate has no recorded tracked floor votes.
Herrera says the U.S. should not pay for "all of Israel's stuff all the time" and should send no taxpayer money abroad until the debt is paid down. He would sell weapons to the government of Israel: "If they want to buy rockets from us, let's sell to them."
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Herrera is a firearms YouTuber and the Republican nominee in Texas’s 23rd District. The incumbent, Tony Gonzales, withdrew from the primary in March 2026, and President Trump endorsed Herrera.
At a meeting with supporters in Brewster County, reported by Israel National News on October 23, 2025, he said the United States should not send financial aid abroad "until we have paid our debts down", and then addressed the objection directly: "People think 'Oh, so you support Hamas', 'Oh, you hate Israel.' I hope Hamas gets burned to the ground. I don't hate my neighbor just because I don't want to pay his power bill. If they want to buy rockets from us, let's sell to them. If they want information that we already have, cool."
So he opposes grants and supports sales, and he says the position is about debt rather than about Israel. He has also criticized AIPAC, a pro-Israel lobbying group whose super PAC ran ads against him in 2024. In a July 2024 reply on X, as Jewish Insider reported, he wrote that he had as much reason as anyone to despise AIPAC, and that for all he despised its "Israel first" politics, it was far from a top issue for him. Jewish Insider also reported that he has called AIPAC an enemy of U.S. elections.
His candidacy has been reported on extensively over Nazi-related material in his firearms videos, his ownership of a copy of Mein Kampf, and the incumbent’s description of him. His campaign has dismissed the allegations as "bizarre, desperate and false". The reporting, and each side’s words, are on the research page.
The money
Targeted with $1.4M by PACs we track that support U.S. weapons funding for the government of Israel (2024, 2026); no direct 2026 support from them
2026 support from the five lobbying groups we track
Nothing recorded (as of 2026-07-23) from the five lobbying groups we track; earlier cycles and earmarked donations not yet tracked.
Support-only OpenFEC data. Opposition independent expenditures are excluded.
Money spent against them
Independent expenditures opposing this candidate: advertising and other spending made to defeat them, without the candidate's involvement or consent. Republican Jewish Coalition and United Democracy Project reported 8 independent expenditures opposing this candidate, 2024-05-15 to 2025-10-20, totalling $1.4M. This counts only the five lobbying groups we track, so it is a floor on what was spent against this candidate, not a total. Each expenditure is counted because the committee itself named this candidate as the target on its FEC filing. These lobbying groups often spend along party lines, or to protect an incumbent they back, so this is not by itself a reading of the candidate's position.
In their words
“I don't hate my neighbor just because I don't want to pay his power bill. If they want to buy rockets from us, let's sell to them.”
The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.
Every page cited below was opened and read on 2026-09-25 unless marked otherwise. Bands: Position (2024-01-26 onward), Reaction window (2023-10-07 to 2024-01-25), Earlier record (before 2023-10-07), Undated.
U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel
[Position, reported 2025-10-23] He opposes paying for U.S. aid to the government of Israel and supports selling it weapons. Israel National News reported that he laid out the policy "during a meeting with supporters in Brewster County"; the report is dated 2025-10-23 and does not date the meeting. He said: "There's a nuanced take I have here, and people get confused when I say that I don't think we should be paying for all of Israel's stuff all the time". He went on: "The United States is so terribly, deeply in trouble when it comes to our national debt that we shouldn't be spending billions of dollars on any country that isn't the United States. I don't want to see a single cent of taxpayer money go outside the United States until we have paid our debts down." And: "People think 'Oh, so you support Hamas', 'Oh, you hate Israel.' I hope Hamas gets burned to the ground. I don't hate my neighbor just because I don't want to pay his power bill. If they want to buy rockets from us, let's sell to them. If they want information that we already have, cool." The same report quotes him: "We shouldn't be spending a cent of taxpayer dollars on anything that is not either an investment or right here in the United States. Preferably both."
[Position, 2026-06-25; not confirmed in his own words] An interview on LA Times Studios' Straight to the Point, published 2026-06-25, is described by its host as covering his plans to "Slash Foreign Aid". That summary is the host's. His own words in the interview are not quoted here, and nothing on the card rests on it.
U.S. aid to Palestinians
Nothing located as a distinct position. His debt argument is about foreign aid generally and he does not address Palestinian aid separately.
Characterization of the conflict
[Position, reported 2025-10-23] "I hope Hamas gets burned to the ground." (Israel National News)
[Reaction window, 2023-10-08] The Jerusalem Post reported that he "condemned Hamas the day after Oct. 7" (Jerusalem Post, 2026-03-03). Not on the card.
[Reaction window, 2023-11-07] A clip titled "PKA on The Israel-Palestine Situation", from an episode of the Painkiller Already podcast on which he was a guest, was published on YouTube on 2023-11-07. Nothing from it is quoted here. Not on the card.
Related rhetoric and lobbying
[Position, reported 2026-03-06] Jewish Insider reported that he "has also been a critic of AIPAC since its super PAC ran ads against him in 2024" (Jewish Insider). It printed his posts on X from 2024, which were replies to other accounts. In a reply dated 2024-07-15 he wrote that he had as much reason as anyone to despise AIPAC, which he said had spent over $1 million to slander him and cost him his race, and that as much as he despised its "Israel first" politics, it was far from a top issue for him, and most of Congress in both parties had ties to the group. In a reply dated 2024-06-26 he called AIPAC an enemy of U.S. elections that had single-handedly cost him his election. In a reply dated 2024-10-01 he wrote that he could not wait to see what AIPAC would force people to sponsor on the floor that week; Jewish Insider summarized this as a claim that the group "forces" lawmakers to sponsor legislation.
[Position, 2024; reported 2026-03-03] The Jerusalem Post reported that he wrote on X in 2024 that he was not anti-Israel but against Israel buying U.S. elections (Jerusalem Post). The original post was not located. The same report says AIPAC's United Democracy Project "heavily boosted Gonzales while avoiding Israel as an issue" in their 2024 race.
[Position, reported 2026-03-06] Jewish Insider reported that the Republican Jewish Coalition "ran an ad campaign against Herrera in 2024 over his past controversies and his opposition to aid to Israel" and disavowed him again in March 2026 (Jewish Insider).
[Position, 2026-04-30] An advocacy newsletter by José Alberto Niño, AIPAC's Texas Trouble, says in its subtitle that he targeted "foreign aid and "Israel First" spending". That phrase is the author's. The words "Israel first" are Herrera's own, from his July 2024 reply above; the newsletter's body quotes that post.
[Position, 2026-03-06 to 2026-03-19; coverage of the primary, read 2026-08-11] AP and the Washington Post reported the incumbent's withdrawal and the endorsement fight. The Texas Tribune of 2026-08-05 reported the district being added to a Democratic target list.
Safety and antisemitism (context, not a position on what America sends)
[Earlier record, 2022; reported 2026-03-03] The Jerusalem Post reported that in 2022, "reviewing a Nazi-manufactured submachine gun, Herrera joked that it was “the original ghetto blaster” and filmed himself goose-stepping with the weapon over the Nazi song “Erika.”" (Jerusalem Post)
[Position, 2025-03; reported 2026-03-03] A Jerusalem Post photo caption says he "poses with a bust of Hitler in a March 2025 video" (Jerusalem Post).
[Position, 2026-03; read 2026-08-11] Media reported he owned a copy of Mein Kampf (Times of Israel, 2026-03-13). He addressed the coverage on a podcast, saying he did not agree with the book's teachings and noting he had previously praised the anti-Nazi journalist Dorothy Thompson.
[Position, reported 2026-03-06] Jewish Insider reported that on a 2024 podcast he showed a photo of his own copy of the book, and that he told the San Antonio Express-News: "I bought a copy for my historic book collection, and I keep it right next to my copy of the Communist manifesto. I uh, don’t agree with either book" (Jewish Insider).
[Position, 2026-03-07; read 2026-08-11] The Times of Israel reported that the withdrawing incumbent had called him a "known neo-Nazi". That is the incumbent's characterization, reported as his, and it is not adopted here.
[Position, reported 2026-08-05] The Texas Tribune reported that his campaign "has dismissed allegations of antisemitism as “bizarre, desperate and false.”" and that a spokesperson had noted he "simulated the execution and poisoning of Adolf Hitler" in his work as a historical firearms educator (Texas Tribune).
What the campaign site and own pages say
[Position, read 2026-09-25; page modified 2026-09-11] His campaign issues page, under "Opposing Endless Wars": "Brandon will not support sending billions to defend foreign borders while our own remain open. He will vote to bring our troops home from places like Syria and Iraq where we have no clear national interest." The page does not mention Israel, Gaza or Palestinians, and neither does his home page.
The race
His Democratic opponent is Katy Padilla Stout.
Not on the card, and why
His October 8, 2023 condemnation of Hamas and the November 2023 podcast clip: reaction window; research page only.
His 2024 posts about AIPAC were replies to other accounts on X; the card gives them as Jewish Insider reported them rather than quoting them.
The Jerusalem Post's report of a 2024 post that he was not anti-Israel: the post itself was not located; research page only.
The June 2026 interview: the foreign-aid summary is the host's, not his words; research page only.
The advocacy newsletter: its subtitle's "Israel First" phrase is the author's; research page only.
The reporting on Nazi-related material in his videos: context, not a position on what the United States sends; the deep dive carries his campaign's response.
Sources retrieved for this card (address; opened or could not open; date)
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/416733 (opened 2026-09-25; published 2025-10-23)
https://jewishinsider.com/2026/03/brandon-herrera-texas-mein-kampf-podcast-remarks/ (opened 2026-09-25; published 2026-03-06)
https://x.com/TheAKGuy/status/1812995597743628480 (read 2026-09-25; posted 2024-07-15, a reply to another account)
https://x.com/TheAKGuy/status/1806028529819123784 (read 2026-09-25; posted 2024-06-26, a reply to another account)
https://x.com/TheAKGuy/status/1841192484589752629 (read 2026-09-25; posted 2024-10-01, a reply to another account)
https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-888601 (opened 2026-09-25; published 2026-03-03)
https://www.josealnino.org/p/aipacs-texas-trouble-how-brandon (opened 2026-09-25; published 2026-04-30)
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/05/texas-dccc-adds-tony-gonzales-congressional-district-target-list-2026-house/ (opened 2026-09-25; published 2026-08-05)
But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and
funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps.
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