(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Republicans can’t get on the same page with Talarico attacks [1] ['Emily Singer'] Date: 2026-06-10 Republican operatives are growing increasingly desperate in the Senate race in Texas, where they’re pushing false, offensive, and contradictory attacks against James Talarico—who they fear could become the first Texas Democrat to win a Senate race in more than 30 years. The latest comes from a Trump-aligned super PAC, which is running a gross and deceptive AI-generated deepfake ad in which Talarico sings about wanting to “change the gender of all your offspring.” AP James Talarico, Democratic Senate candidate in Texas Nevermind that, just two days ago, Talarico said that he opposes gender-affirming surgery for minors or that these anti-trans attacks are proof that Republicans are focused on the wrong things. “The only thing the media wants to ask me about are trans athletes,” Talarico told MS NOW in March. “What I would say is that the only minority destroying this country is the billionaires.” But Republicans are still trying to make the anti-trans attacks stick—even though polling shows that voters want their elected officials to focus on actual problems, like the surging cost of living and health care. Scandal-plagued GOP nominee Ken Paxton is trying to convince voters that Talarico isn’t “manly” enough to serve as senator—another head-scratching attack. After Paxton won the nomination in a primary runoff against GOP Sen. John Cornyn, he tried to get the nicknames “Low-T Talarico” and “Talafreako” to stick. “He goes by a few names that you all may have heard of. Some people know him as ‘tofu Talarico.’ Some people call him ‘six-gender Jimmy.’ I’ve even heard some people call him ‘James Talafreako,’” Paxton said in his victory speech. “And others refer to him simply as ‘Low-T Talarico.’” Talarico responded to the attack by releasing “I’m a Talafreako” merchandise. Related | Why Republicans can’t quit Trump Meanwhile, White House adviser Stephen Miller took the attacks a step further, saying that Talarico is the “first transgender Senate candidate.” “He’s clearly transitioning into a female,” Miller said, yet another completely false, bizarre, and offensive attack. “When Talarico goes in for a blood test, when he gets a physical, blood doesn’t come out. Soy milk comes out.” GOP Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas also pushed the not-manly-enough attack, telling Fox News that “if you were making a list of a thousand adjectives to describe this guy, ‘masculine’ would not be one of them.” “I mean, this guy—if a stiff breeze came by, it would blow him over like a feather,” he added. And misogynistic Fox News host Jesse Watters called Talarico a “gay vegan”—which not only isn’t an insult but isn’t even true. When their weird, way-too-online attacks fell flat, Republicans tried saying that Talarico is bad because he dates beautiful Latina women. Yes, really. The New York Post, a notorious right-wing rag, ran a headline slamming Talarico for having a vegan girlfriend. And a conservative publication in Texas published an article about a woman who worked in Talarico’s office before dating him. The relationship was consensual and public, with both Talarico and his ex posting about it. Clay Jones A cartoon by Clay Jones. At the end of the day, not only are the attacks against Talarico absurd, contradictory, and offensive—but they’re just not working. Polls still show Talarico leading Paxton, even in a state that Trump carried by nearly 14 points in 2024. It’s also markedly different from the blockbuster 2018 race between Cruz and Democrat Beto O’Rourke, who lost by 2 points and never led Cruz in any polls anyway. Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, who serves as the chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, tried to brush off concerns that his party will lose the Texas race. “They want people who love the Lord, who like barbecue, and who do not figure out ways to disrespect Texans,” Scott told the Wall Street Journal during a podcast Tuesday. “That means you can’t vote for Talarico because he too consistently out of step with the state he wants to represent.” Scott went on to predict that Paxton would win the race by 7 points. Yeah, sure. Ultimately, Trump’s unpopularity is so bad that even a state like Texas is in play this fall. And Republicans’ bizarre behavior in the race is proof that they’re terrified. [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2026/6/10/800053092/elections/republicans-cant-get-on-same-page-talarico-attacks/ Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/