Republican Party representative Gonzales redoubles criticism of ‘neo-Nazi’ opponent in second round

Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas) again called his primary opponent a “neo-Nazi” on Sunday as he prepares for a heated runoff election on Tuesday that has divided the Republican Party.

The two-term border district congressman fought against members of his party who supported his main rival, social media influencer Brandon Herrera. Neither candidate won a majority of votes in the March runoff elections that led to Tuesday’s primaries.

“Are we going to be the party that governs and does things in a conservative way?” Gonzales told CNN on Sunday. “Or are we going to be the party that has fools who come here and say crazy, outrageous things and just try to burn the place down?”

Herrera operates a successful YouTube channel focusing on content about firearms. He has one history of making jokes about Nazis and the Holocaust on the channel, hence the “neo-Nazi” attack.

Right-wing members of the Republican Party rallied around Herrera, garnering support from Reps. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) and Bob Good (R-Va.). Gonzales himself is supported by Texas Governor Greg Abbott (R).

The party’s infighting centers on gun rights, with Herrera consistently criticizing Gonzales for his support of a bipartisan gun control bill proposed after the 2022 Uvalde, Texas, school shooting that killed 21 people. Uvalde is within the Gonzales District.

The Texas Republican Party censured Gonzales for his vote. He defended his decision to support the project.

“Something has to change,” Gonzales said, referring to the prevalence of bulletproof vests for students and other concerns about school shootings. “It’s unfair.”

“In general, people are angry and for a reason,” he said of voters. “But are they going to get angry and then want to see the outrage set things on fire? Or will we help calm this anger by delivering results? That’s what’s at stake, not just in this race, but…in other races across the country.”

In response to Gaetz and Good’s endorsement of his opponent, Gonzales said he would do the same to them.

“I plan to spend a lot of time in Pensacola,” he said, referring to Gaetz’s district. “I plan to spend a lot of time in Virginia and some of these other places. So I guess my race is just the beginning, right? You can send anything you have to me. You’ll never beat me, right? You just aren’t.

The primary contest is one of the most expensive in the country, with more than $9 million spent so far on the contest between campaigns and outside groups, according to Federal Election Commission data collected by OpenSecrets.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story