Texas Democrats rallied around their Senate nominee at a state convention Friday with one of the most bizarre defenses of a candidate in recent memory.
Bay City Councilman Ben Flores, the Democratic nominee for Texas Land Commissioner, took the stage to defend state Rep. James Talarico — and ended up embracing every attack line Republicans have used against him.
“When they say James is a gay, tofu-eating vegan, we’re all gay, tofu-eating vegans! And when they say James is going to hell, we’ll say we’re all going to hell!”
Flores went even further, declaring “we’re all trans” when critics call Talarico trans.
The moment was captured on video and quickly went viral on social media.
James Talarico receives a head-scratching defense against his critics from Democratic Texas Land Commissioner candidate Ben Flores:
“Next time they say that James is trans — we’re all trans!”
“When they say James is gay tofu eating vegan — we’re all gay tofu eating vegans!”… pic.twitter.com/iczS3jJue6
— Fox News (@FoxNews) June 28, 2026
Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the March primary for the Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Cornyn.
The dietary controversy started when Talarico ordered potato, egg, and cheese tacos — no meat — while visiting a taco stand with former President Barack Obama in May. Talarico has denied being vegan, with a spokesperson posting a photo of him eating a turkey leg.
But the food fight is the least of Talarico’s problems with Texas voters.
Talarico has been a staunch defender of child sex-change procedures, claiming in 2022 that they were not child abuse. He argued that Republican policies like “blocking Medicaid expansion” and “separating families at the border” were the real child abuse.
In 2021, Talarico fiercely opposed legislation to restrict child sex-change operations, declaring “God is nonbinary” during a floor debate.
“The first two lines of Genesis use two different Hebrew words to describe God. One is the masculine Hebrew noun for divinity, the second is the feminine Hebrew noun for spirit,” Talarico claimed during the debate before voting against the measure. “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is nonbinary.”
Talarico has since admitted he was being “provocative” with those comments.
The Senate race is shaping up to be one of the most closely watched contests of 2026, with Republicans defending a seat in a state that has trended increasingly red in recent cycles.
