Dem Senate candidate in the hot seat after anti-meat comment resurfaces: 'This will haunt him'

Senate candidate James Talarico, D-Texas, has been facing an intense online firestorm after a resurfaced video showed him calling on Texans to ditch meat to fight climate change.

Republicans and conservative influencers have widely panned the remark as a potentially fatal blow to his Senate bid and suggested his anti-meat stance could dog him on the campaign trail. 

"Democrats are trying to fool Texans into believing James Talarico isn't some whacked out lib, but the clips keep coming," Andrew Kolvet, Turning Point USA spokesman, wrote on X. "In 2022, Talarico, wearing a mask, scolded Texans about going meat-free (!!) to stop climate change. This is TEXAS. This will haunt him in the general."

"That just isn't poor taste, it's political poison," Lawrence Jones said on "The Will Cain Show" on Thursday.

Talarico, a three-term state legislator and self-described Presbyterian seminarian, is seeking to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is facing an insurgent primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, in a primary battle earlier this month.

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Talarico's anti-meat remarks stem from a speech he delivered in April 2022 to the Texas Humane Legislation Network, during which he said his re-election bid was a "non-meat" campaign.

"We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare," Talarico said while wearing a mask. "I think, not just because it's the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also, it's, as all of you know, necessary 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."

"So, I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign," Talarico continued. "So, we are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses."

Amid the backlash, the Talarico campaign blasted out a photo of the candidate wearing a Texas flag shirt and taking a large bite out of a turkey leg.

"Official Statement from James Talarico on Vegan Accusations," the campaign wrote.

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Still, the hits against Talarico from Republicans over his anti-meat stance keep coming. 

"Who wants to tell him that cattle is the #1 commodity in Texas?" the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Republicans' campaign arm, wrote on X.

"Vote Republican this November. The steaks couldn't be higher," Cornyn wrote in response to the viral clip. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also labeled Talarico a "freak" who wants to "ban BBQ."

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico's campaign for comment.

Republicans have also spotlighted Talarico's past remarks when discussing religion and transgender issues.

In 2021, he claimed "God is non-binary" when debating a bill to ban men from women's sports on the Texas House floor. Talarico doubled down on that statement during an interview with The Bulwark on Thursday, arguing it was "provocative" but theologically correct.

In an interview with an Austin-based Fox affiliate in 2021, Talarico called concern over biological males in women's sports a part of "far-right conspiracy theories." 

In 2023, when Talarico was asked on the "A Superbloom Podcast" about "something that you love, other than family and friends," the candidate discussed "trans children."

Though Democrats have not won a Senate seat in Texas since the 1980s, Talarico is arguing that he is well-positioned to end that trend. His campaign published an internal poll on Friday showing him leading Cornyn and Paxton in head-to-head match-ups.