Republican National Committee Chairman Joe Gruters unleashed a blistering attack Wednesday against Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, painting the Democrat as wildly out of touch with Texas voters and emblematic of the modern progressive movement many conservatives say has drifted far from mainstream America.
Appearing on Newsmax’s “Wake Up America,” Gruters mocked Talarico as a “creep,” accused him of supporting radical gender policies involving children, and even took aim at his dietary habits — calling him a vegan in what was clearly framed as a cultural strike against the Democrat in deep-red Texas.
“Talarico is a creep… he’s a vegan. He thinks God is non-binary, he wants to mutilate children. He wants to put boys in girls locker rooms. People are done with that,” Gruters said during the interview.
The RNC chairman also borrowed a page straight from President Donald Trump’s political playbook, repeatedly referring to the Democrat as “Talafreako,” a nickname he had already debuted during a Fox News appearance the day before.
The comments came after Newsmax co-host Sharla McBride asked Gruters how Republicans intended to keep Texas firmly in the GOP column heading into a major Senate race later this year. Gruters argued the answer was simple: expose what he described as Talarico’s extreme ideology and contrast it with the values of ordinary Texans.
During the segment, Newsmax aired clips of Talarico making comments about gender and religion that have already stirred controversy among conservatives. In one clip, Talarico said, “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary. Trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image.”
Another clip showed the Democrat claiming there are six biological sexes, a statement that quickly drew ridicule from the panel.
“You might as well put just a little disclaimer there, ‘Paid for by the Republican National Committee,’” co-host Marc Lotter joked after the footage aired. “There’s your ad, Mr. Chairman!”
Gruters went on to argue that Talarico sounded more like a politician from California than someone seeking to represent Texas in the United States Senate. He suggested the Democrat would fit in better in one of the country’s “super woke left-wing states.”
The RNC chair also tied Talarico to the Democratic National Committee’s recently released autopsy report on the party’s 2024 election defeat, arguing Democrats are still relying on the same messaging and cultural priorities that many voters rejected at the ballot box.
For his part, Talarico denied this week that he is vegan, though the article notes he has supported children receiving transgender surgeries — an issue that has become one of the nation’s most heated political flashpoints.
The increasingly bitter rhetoric underscores just how combative the Texas Senate race is becoming as both parties prepare for a bruising campaign season. While Republicans continue leaning heavily into cultural issues that energize their base, the escalating political warfare also reflects a broader national climate where outrage and division increasingly dominate modern campaigns.
Talarico is now set to face Trump-backed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton later this year after Paxton decisively defeated incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the Republican primary Tuesday night.