By Oops. A Texas Democrat’s attempt to raise money by attacking her Republican opponent’s reading material backfired Wednesday when he pointed out that the book pictured in her post was the Communist Manifesto, not Mein Kampf.
Katy Padilla Stout, the Democratic nominee in Texas’ 23rd Congressional District, posted a photo of Republican nominee Brandon Herrera holding a book and declared that he “defends owning a copy of Mein Kampf.” She included an ActBlue donation link, turning the accusation into a fundraising pitch. There was one problem: She had identified the wrong book.
“That’s the communist manifesto, genius.” Herrera replied. The YouTuber added a donation link of his own, appealing to people who “want to support a candidate who can read.”
Why did you delete this post @katy4congress?
Embarrassed that a school teacher doesn’t know how to read the title of the book in your own photo?
Just like the Big Bend fiasco I caught you in. You’re either a liar or incompetent. Both are disqualifying. pic.twitter.com/9K1Ro0HK5W
— Brandon Herrera (@TheAKGuy) October 1, 2026
Stout deleted the post, but Herrera kept the exchange alive with a screenshot. “Embarrassed that a school teacher doesn’t know how to read the title of the book in your own photo?” he wrote.
Herrera also tied the episode to another error by his opponent. In a separate post, he said Stout “apparently doesn’t know the difference between the Communist Manifesto and Mein Kampf,” and that she “didn’t know we have 27 counties in the district, not 26.”
During an appearance on the podcast Mission: Texas, Stout had said the district “spans 26 counties,” explained The Daily Caller. Under the 2025 congressional map, it covers 27. Her mistaken book identification gave Herrera another opening to question her attention to basic facts, this time using the photograph she had supplied for her own attack.
Herrera secured the Republican nomination in March 2026 after former Rep. Tony Gonzalez left the race. Gonzalez had faced criticism within his party after admitting to an affair with a staffer who died by suicide in September 2025.
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