Texas Republicans are escalating criticism of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico following a controversial AI-generated campaign ad from Republican opponent Ken Paxton, with Gov. Greg Abbott (R), Sen. Ted Cruz (R), and Rep. Brandon Gill (R) targeting Talarico's past comments on gender, religion, and criminal justice.
What are Republicans saying?
Gov. Abbott accused Talarico of "missing the mark" not only with past comments but also with his legislative record, writing on X that Talarico was either "lying about what he believed" when he previously said there were six biological sexes or is "lying about what he believes now."
Gov. Greg Abbott: "Six Gender Jimmy is not fit to represent Texas in the United States Senate."
Sen. Cruz also criticized Talarico's comments on gender, capitalism, veganism, and prisons.
If James Talarico can’t tell the difference between six and two genders, that’s a problem.
This is also a guy who says he wants to dismantle capitalism and ran a campaign that only bought vegan products.
Now we learn he previously said he wants to dismantle prisons because… pic.twitter.com/5eOnGKsugx
— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) September 10, 2026
Sen. Ted Cruz: "If James Talarico can't tell the difference between six and two genders, that's a problem. This is also a guy who says he wants to dismantle capitalism and ran a campaign that only bought vegan products."
What did Talarico previously say?
Talarico previously said there were "six" biological sexes, a comment Republicans have repeatedly cited during the Senate campaign. In a recent interview, however, Talarico said he had "missed the mark" with some past statements and said he now believes there are two sexes while acknowledging chromosomal variations.
Talarico has also previously said that God is nonbinary and referred to Jesus as a "radical feminist," comments that have been featured in Republican attacks and Paxton's recent AI-generated advertisement.
Who else joined the attacks?
Rep. Gill said Talarico's past comments show he is a "wolf in sheep's clothing" and urged Texans to support Paxton in the Senate race.
James Talarico thinks God is non-binary, that there are six genders, and that Jesus was a "radical feminist." He is the wolf in sheep's clothing that we were warned about. We need every patriotic Texan to get out and vote for Ken Paxton. https://t.co/IsZa2KW7hc
— Brandon Gill (@realBrandonGill) September 8, 2026
The renewed criticism follows Paxton's release of an AI-generated advertisement portraying Talarico delivering fictional statements about Christianity and gender. The ad included a disclaimer noting that portions of the video were generated by artificial intelligence.
