Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico said he won’t be dragged into the mud by Donald Trump’s insulting nicknames for him.
Trump has dubbed Talarico, who currently leads Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the polls, as “Talafreako” and “Talacreepo” and also likened him to MAD magazine mascot Alfred E. Neuman.
Asked about the insults on CBS Texas, ahead of this week’s first-ever GOP midterm convention in Dallas, Talarico responded with a no-nonsense reality check for the president.
“I think a lot of people in our state voted for President Trump in the last election because they thought he was gonna lower prices,” he replied. “They thought he was gonna end the forever wars. They thought he was gonna release the Epstein files. They thought he was gonna drain the swamp.”
“It’s why a lot of people in my family voted for President Trump,” he acknowledged. “But just a year into this administration, prices are up because of these crazy tariffs. There’s a new forever war in Iran. The Epstein files have not fully been released and the swamp is bigger than it’s ever been before.”
“So, there’s a lot of people in our state, including a lot of the president’s former supporters, who are feeling disillusioned,” he added.
Talarico said his job is “to extend an open hand to those voters and invite them to join this movement that we’re building, a movement of working people coming together to take on the billionaire mega donors and the corrupt politicians that are screwing us over.”
Then, turning specifically to Trump’s insults, he said:
“And so, that’s what I’m going to stay focused on. These nicknames don’t lower the price of groceries. These nicknames don’t lower the price of gas or utilities or health care. These nicknames don’t actually improve any of our lives.”
“I’m running for office to serve the people of Texas, to make people’s lives easier and better and less stressful,” he continued. “So, I’m not going to engage in the silly nicknames back and forth. I’m going to keep focused on the people of Texas and their needs.”
Asked if he thought the relentless attacks from Trump and other Republicans could hurt him in November, Talarico said he didn’t.
“Anyone can go to our website, JamesTalarico.com, and buy their very own ‘I’m a Talafreako’ T-shirt,” he said. “It’s our best-selling item on our web store.”
Talarico said that “we’re trying to take this in stride” and stay focused on the issues actually affecting Texans, including “the cost of living, the cost of food, the cost of gas and utilities and child care, which is now more expensive than college in the state of Texas.”
“That’s what I’m focused on, is solutions to bring down those costs, take on corruption, and make this government and this economy work for all of us again,” he added.