Seizing on insult from Ken Paxton, James Talarico campaign starts selling 'Talafreako' T-shirts

‘Talafreako’ shirts are now part of the U.S. Senate’s campaign merchandise. Credit: Courtesy of Talarico for Texas

Democratic state Rep. James Talarico’s U.S. Senate campaign has wasted no time embracing the “Talafreako” moniker his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, attempted to brand him with.

After Paxton trounced incumbent U.S. Sen. John Cornyn in Tuesday’s GOP runoff, the AG ripped a page out of President Trump’s name-calling playbook and began referring to Talarico as “James Talafreako,” “Tofu Talarico” and “Low T Talarico.”

In a quick turnaround clearly intended to tweak Paxton, Talarico’s campaign is now selling official “I’m a Talafreako” T-shirts online for $36.

Indeed, Talarico himself was happy to shill the shirts at a Houston rally.

“I also saw that Ken Paxton started calling me ‘Talafreako,’ and I’m proud to announce we have ‘I’m a Talafreako’ T-shirts on our website,” Talarico told the crowd, as reported by Fox News. “When you go home tonight, make sure you grab one.”

The crowd began chanting “Talafreako” as the candidate exited the stage, Fox News also reports.

As Paxton’s middle-school-bully-level insults suggest, opposition research on Talarico appears to be coming up empty-handed. Instead of focusing on policy talking points, Republican operatives are resorting to conspiracy theories about whether the former San Antonio public school teacher is secretly transgender or gay.

Trump White House Homeland Security Advisor Stephen Miller leaned in on the homophobic slurs against Talarico during an appearance this week on Fox News’ Jesse Watters Primetime.

“This man has less testosterone than Jasmine Crockett,” Miller said. “It is mind-boggling that they would choose a person to run for that office who doesn’t look like he belongs in the Senate, but in a cabaret show.”

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