The 2023 video unearthed by The everyday beast is from Brandon Herrera, a YouTuber turned politician who is running against incumbent Republican Rep. Tony Gonzales in this week's primary.
Mr. Gonzales represents Texas' 23rd District – home to Uvalde, the site of a 2022 elementary school shooting that left 19 students and two staff members dead.
Gonzales was criticized by his party last year after voting in favor of gun control legislation introduced after the shooting. Mr. Herrera, meanwhile, has run on a platform that focuses on unrestricted access to firearms.
In the video titled 'The AR-180: The IRA's Lucky Charm', Mr Herrera wears a balaclava and wields the AR-180 while making jokes about the IRA and the British.
He posted the video to YouTube on St. Patrick's Day last year.
“Of course I'm not doing this video because I like or support the IRA,” Herrera told his viewers. 'Of course they were quite socialist and hurt a lot of innocent people.
“So I'm not making this video because I like the IRA or because I support them,” he continued. “I'm making this video because I hate the British. I'm joking, I'm joking most of the time.”
At one point, Mr. Herrera turns to the camera and says, “Do you really believe the queen died of natural causes?”
In another clip, while dealing with a jammed gun, Herrera also said: “This is why Ireland is not free.”
“The IRA [were] very unfortunate for a certain group of people who are hunting for their lucky charms,” he also said.
At the end of the video, Mr. Herrera told his viewers, “This was all a lot of fun.”
But Aidan McQuade, former director of Anti-Slavery International, spoke up The everyday beast the video was full of “overwhelming stupidity”.
“From a human perspective, Herrera's attitude toward violence appears to be that of an adolescent video gamer who is completely ignorant of the trauma that war inflicts on a society, and the endless grief of the victims' devastated families,” McQuade told the paper.
The Provisional IRA was the dominant republican terror group during the Troubles.
The Provisional IRA is estimated to have killed almost 2,000 people during the conflict, including many civilians.
“As a comedian, like Herrera tries to be, such attitudes would be exhausting,” McQuade said. The everyday beast.
“But coming from someone who hopes to become an elected representative, such callous and facile thinking is inexcusable.”
Two years ago, Mr. Herrera also posted a video about a World War II German submachine gun, calling it the “original ghetto blaster.”
The independent has contacted Mr. Herrera for comment.