Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico raised eyebrows for readily naming a man who has expressed a desire to influence young children as his favorite drag queen during a brief interaction at a campaign event.
"Oh my gosh, probably Alyssa Edwards," Talarico quickly replied to someone who asked him to name his "favorite drag queen in Texas." A clip of the exchange, circulated by the Republican National Committee Research, has garnered 1.9 million views on X since it was posted Monday afternoon. ????
WATCHJames Talarico says his “favorite drag queen” is Alyssa Edwards — who has described himself as "a drag performer that works with children." pic.twitter.com/u5HNKh4CQt The speed with which Talarico was able to name his favorite Texan drag queen prompted scorn from many Republicans on social media, including his opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. "What normal person can name their favorite drag queen this quickly?
When James Talarico isn’t advocating for children to dress in drag, he's watching drag performances and saying that Texas produces the best drag queens," Paxton said. "James Talarico is too weird and too radical for Texas," he added. "Why was he able to name someone so fast?" asked former White House deputy press secretary Abigail Jackson. "The fact that James Talarico didn't skip a beat is legitimately worrisome," said Republican communications veteran Steve Guest.
"Talafreako is a deeply sick and disturbed individual," said White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller. Throughout his tight Senate race against Paxton, Talarico has fielded backlash to comments he has made for years about children who exhibit transgender behavior. Last month, The Washington Free Beacon reported that he headlined an LGBTQ festival in 2021 that featured "the absolute cutest & youngest of our drag performers," including an 11-year-old boy "drag queen."