Texas Democrats rallied around their nominee for the United States Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Cornyn during their convention Friday.
Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico, a former public school teacher who is currently a Presbyterian seminarian, defeated Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the March 3 primary for the party’s nomination in the race for Cornyn’s seat. During the Lone Star State Democrats’ party convention, one Texas speaker proudly embraced several lines of attack aimed at Talarico by critics. (RELATED: Pro-Gun Groups, GOP Lawmakers And Trump All Want To Make Right To Carry A Reality—But They Can’t Agree How)
“They say that James is trans — we’re all trans. When they say James is a gay, tofu-eating vegan, we’re all gay, tofu-eating vegans!” Bay City Councilman Ben Flores, the Democratic nominee for Texas Land Commissioner, said. “And when they say James is going to hell, we’ll say we’re all going to hell!”
WATCH:
James Talarico receives a head-scratching defense against his critics from Democratic Texas Land Commissioner candidate Ben Flores:
“Next time they say that James is trans — we’re all trans!”
“When they say James is gay tofu eating vegan — we’re all gay tofu eating vegans!”… pic.twitter.com/iczS3jJue6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 28, 2026
Talarico’s dietary habits came under scrutiny when he ordered potato, egg, and cheese tacos while visiting a taco stand with former President Barack Obama in May 2026. Talarico has denied allegations he is vegan, with a spokesperson posting a photo of the candidate eating a turkey leg.
Talarico has also been a staunch defender of child sex-change procedures, claiming in 2022 that they were not child abuse. He did, however, argue that Republican policies he described as “blocking Medicaid expansion” and “separating families at the border” were child abuse.
Likewise, Talarico in 2021 fiercely opposed legislation to restrict child sex-change operations, declaring, “God is nonbinary.”
“In committee, I listened to 15 hours of testimony about this bill,” Talarico claimed during a debate in the state legislature before he voted against the measure. “The worst part, for me, was the number of Christians who used scripture to justify hurting children. Even on this floor today, a member tried to justify a hateful amendment in the name of God’s law.”
“So, let’s talk about that,” Talarico continued. “The first two lines of the Bible, the first two lines of Genesis, use two different Hebrew words to describe God. One is the masculine Hebrew noun for divinity, the second is the feminine Hebrew noun for spirit. God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary.”
Talarico has since admitted he was being “provocative” with the comments about God being “nonbinary.”
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