Texas state Rep. James Talarico said Wednesday that previous comments he’s made on sensitive cultural issues “missed the mark,” as Republicans lean on those remarks to attack him in the contentious Senate race.
In an interview with NBC News, the Democratic nominee was asked if he wanted to clarify some of those statements that his GOP challenger, state Attorney General Ken Paxton, has been highlighting in recent days.
“I’ll be the first to admit that I missed the mark on some of those old statements, but what Ken Paxton is doing is clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption,” Talarico said, speaking hours after Paxton defeated longtime Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the GOP primary runoff.
“Ken Paxton has a criminal record; I have a legislative record,” Talarico went on, referring to an indictment Paxton faced that was dismissed after he participated in a diversion program. “I’ve served for four terms in the Texas House of Representatives, where I brought Democrats and Republicans together to pass 60 bipartisan bills to cut property taxes, to raise teacher pay, to lower the cost of housing, childcare, prescription drugs, including insulin, and I’ve called out the extremes in both parties.”
In his remarks celebrating his victory Tuesday night, Paxton referred to Talarico by a string of mocking nicknames — “Tofu Talarico,” “Six-gender Jimmy,” “James Tala-freako” and “Low T Talarico” — while denouncing his positions related to gender-affirming care, immigration, energy and religion.
Paxton, whom President Donald Trump endorsed earlier this month, was harnessing comments Talarico has made while serving as a state legislator.
In 2020, after the death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia in a racially motivated hate crime, Talarico posted images on X of Black individuals and said Arbery was the latest American “killed by the virus of racism.” He added: “White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus. But we spread it wherever we go—through our words, our actions, and our systems. We don’t have to be showing symptoms—like a white hood or a Confederate flag—to be contagious.”
In 2021, during a debate in the Texas Legislature on a bill targeting transgender athletes, Talarico said, “Modern science recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes — in fact, there are six.”
Republicans have also mocked Talarico over rumors of him being a vegan, which the Democratic contender denied in an interview Tuesday with MeidasTouch, also using the question as an excuse to bring up a past indictment against Paxton.
Trump wrote on Truth Social after Paxton’s win that Talarico “may be the worst TEXAS candidate I have ever seen.” He went on to say Talarico is “a strong Open Borders advocate, he is WEAK ON CRIME, believes there are 6 genders, is insulting to Jesus Christ, will never support the Military, was a big Mask Wearer until recently, and is a Vegan who dislikes meat, not exactly a good way to be if your wanting to win an Election in Texas.”
For his part, Talarico said of Paxton to NBC News: “The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate.”
Talarico pivoted to preview more of his own general election attacks, noting Paxton’s impeachment in 2023 on charges including using his public office to benefit a donor. The Republican-led state House voted to impeach Paxton, but he was acquitted in the state Senate.
Still, the allegations at the center of the episode are all over the Senate campaign. Cornyn and his allies argued for months that nominating Paxton for Senate would put the seat at risk, potentially turning off voters concerned about the state attorney general’s record of controversies.
Meanwhile, Talarico has been leaning into corruption and the idea of fractures in the nation’s political and economic systems as campaign themes dating back to his Democratic primary.
“That kind of corruption is the rot at the core of this broken political system that we’re running against,” Talarico said.
