President Donald Trump unloaded on Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico Friday, branding the Texas liberal “weird” and ridiculing his past vegan activism and comments on gender ideology.
Speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump was asked whether he planned to endorse either John Cornyn or Ken Paxton ahead of the Texas Republican Senate runoff later this month.
While Trump declined to reveal which Republican he may back, he made clear he believes either candidate would crush Talarico in a general election showdown.
“I’ll tell you what I do think — I think the Democrats have a weird, a weird candidate,” Trump said. “Six genders, a real hit on Jesus.”
“I mean, this guy is bad news with his mask from relatively recently, and he’s a vegan,” Trump continued. “He’s a vegan. All of a sudden, he’s not a vegan. He was a vegan, now all of a sudden he’s not.”
Then came the line likely to echo across Texas campaign ads.
“Texas doesn’t like vegans,” Trump said.
The president continued hammering the Democrat as out of step with Texas voters.
“I do believe either one of them will easily win the race,” Trump said. “I think the candidate the Democrats have in Texas is a very flawed, very weak, very — I think he’s a pathetic candidate, especially for Texas.”
Trump’s broadside revived scrutiny surrounding a resurfaced 2022 video in which Talarico promoted reducing meat consumption to fight climate change.
“It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption, and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society,” Talarico said in the clip while wearing a face mask.
“And so I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign,” he added. “We are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses.”
The comments quickly became political ammunition in Texas, where barbecue culture remains practically sacred.
Watch the clip below:
NEW: President Trump unleashes on Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, labeling the Texas politician "pathetic" and "bad news" for the Lone Star State.
"I think the Democrats have a weird, a weird candidate. I mean, this guy is bad news.” pic.twitter.com/rm3sUcczqO
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 15, 2026
