Texas state Rep.James Talaricoissued a brutal rebuttal to Republicans’ repeated allegations that he is vegan, claiming on Tuesday, “I’ve been eating barbecue since beforeKen Paxton’sfirst indictment.”
TalaricojoinedThe MeidasTouch Podcastto discuss his run for Senate and Tuesday’s closely watched primary to determine his opponent. The scandal-ridden Paxton, Texas’s Attorney General, is facing off with Sen.John Cornyn(R) in anintenselyacrimoniousrace that has, for many, come to represent the ongoing struggle between MAGA and the establishment, moderate wing of the Republican Party.
PresidentDonald Trump’ssurpriseendorsementof Paxton last week triggeredwidespreadbacklashfrommanywithin hisparty, stemming from fears over Paxton’s checkered history and anger over the president’s betrayal of Cornyn, whose twenty years of experience and consistentfundraising chopshave garnered him manypowerfulWashington supporters. Many GOP lawmakers dually expressed fears of Talarico’sstrengthas a candidate, reinforced bypollingthat showed Trump’s endorsement sent the state senator’s numbers even higher.
Paxton, though not yet the official candidate, has alreadytaken to attackinghis Democratic would-be opponent, arguing that Talarico is unfit to represent the people of Texas due to, among other reasons, his veganism.
“We know that James Talarico would never come here because he doesn’t eat any of that stuff,” Paxton said. “We never had a US senator who didn’t eat meat, especially Texas barbecue.”
Trump made asimilar claimabout Talarico in May– though he noted that his veganism was sporadic– telling press that “Texas doesn’t like vegans.”
Talarico, who has consistently said he is not vegan, went on the offensive when dismissing the claim to MeidaTouch’sBen Meiselas.
“I’m an eighth-generation Texan,” he said. “I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”
Paxton’sstringofscandals,lawsuits, andcontroversieshas been welldocumented, including hisindictmenton three felony fraud charges in 2015. Paxton was alsoimpeachedin 2023 by an overwhelming majority in the Republican controlled Texas House.
Talarico: I’m an eighth-generation Texan. I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment. And if all they have on me is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances this November.pic.twitter.com/9s7WKKdvyB
Source: Drudge Report
