The Republicans’ relentless attacks on James Talarico, a vegan and not very Texan

Since becoming the Democratic candidate in Texas, James Talarico has been subjected to a series of insults from his political opponents, in an attempt to portray him as at odds with the values of conservative masculinity which, according to the Republicans, a Texan senator should embody. He has been labelled a "vegan" on several occasions by Trump, who dubbed him "Tofu Talarico" because, in 2022, during an event, he had stated that he wanted to buy from vegan companies to reduce his environmental impact. Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of Staff to the Administration, called him "transgender", whilst his opponent Ken Paxton called him "Tal-a-freak-o", meaning "mad".

In recent weeks, a full-blown disinformation campaign has been launched – driven by both Republican figures and conservative influencers on social media – regarding the Democratic candidate’s absence from campaign events. Talarico, in fact, fell ill following a fundraising event in New York at the end of September. Apart from a few sporadic video links, he spent nine days at home recovering from a severe bout of flu, probably exacerbated by his diabetes, which makes him more prone to complications. During those nine days, speculation ran rife.

During a rally in San Antonio, Trump claimed to know why Talarico was unwell: “He’s a vegan,” he said, “and he was forced to eat too much meat for political reasons.” In Texas, barbecues are, in fact, a political tradition, and Talarico’s alleged veganism would have left him bedridden with indigestion from meat – a food he is not used to eating. Subsequently, another theory emerged, put forward by far-right guru Steve Bannon and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt: Talarico allegedly has an unspecified mental health issue. Pratt even claimed that anonymous sources had told him Talarico was in a treatment centre. Around the same time, Elon Musk claimed that Talarico’s campaign was hiding something major from its voters.

The falsehood has spread, passing from politicians to the accounts of conservative influencers on X, where it has been amplified. Nick Sortor, a right-wing influencer, wrote on X that Talarico was reportedly at the Lindner Centre of Hope, a mental health treatment centre in Ohio. Another individual reported seeing a private jet on a flight-tracking application flying from Texas to Ohio, implying that it belonged to Talarico. Sortor claims to have evidence of the Democratic candidate’s presence in Ohio: an audio recording of a phone call with an employee of the centre, which he asserts confirms that the Democratic candidate has been discharged. Subsequently, the conservative, anti-Trump website The Bulwark published the full audio of the call: the woman had never identified Talarico as a patient, and her responses did not confirm anything. Hours later, the centre was forced to post on X that “Talarico never received treatment”.

Meanwhile, the Democrat shared footage from his CCTV camera with the New York Times, confirming that during his nine-day recovery period he had remained at home recuperating from the flu. Having returned to full campaign duties, Talarico stated that everything that had happened was “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard”, and demonstrated just how much he is regarded as a political threat by the Republicans. Despite the tens of millions spent against him by the Senate Leadership Fund – the lobby group linked to Republican senators that finances campaigns – he shows no sign of slipping in the polls. The attacks continue: during a campaign event, Vice-President Vance opened a speech by saying to a man in the audience: “I love you, but in a platonic way, not like James Talarico.” The remark implied that the Democratic candidate is gay. According to conservatives, Talarico is not manly enough, Christian enough, healthy enough or meat-eating enough to represent Texas; according to the polls, which continue to show the Democrat with a slight lead over Paxton, voters do not see it that way.