James Talarico defines what makes a 'real man' amid Ken Paxton's jabs

After Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton won the state's Republican Senate primary, he and his party members launched a widespread barrage of attacks on Democratic challenger, Rep. James Talarico. The GOP has targeted Talarico's progressive comments and manhood with sometimes vulgar emphasis on masculinity. Talarico, who is currently on a tour of the state, hit back, explaining what a "real man" means to him.

In a recent speech, Talarico subtly took aim at Paxton's past, including his indictment, allegations of corruption, and infidelity. "There’s been a lot of talk in this race about what makes a real man," Talrico wrote on X, sharing a clip of his speech. "Here's what real men don't do. They don't lie and cheat their way through life. They don't enrich themselves by stealing from other people. And they don't sell their soul to the highest bidder," the Democratic leader said in his speech. "Real men serve others. Weak men serve themselves." 

The comments rebuke the attacks launched by Paxton, who delivered a run of insults directed at Talarico after his win. "He goes by a few names that you all may have heard of. Some people know him as tofu Talarico. Some people call him six-gender Jimmy. I've even heard some people call him James Talafreako," he said during his victory speech last month. He further released an ad that ends with an image of Talarico next to the words: "Radical Talarico: too low-T for Texas."

Talarico has since responded to each of the attacks during his "The People vs Ken Paxton" tour, taking aim at his Republican opponent's spotted past. "The most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate," Talarico said in a video posted to social media, referring to Paxton's bribery allegations. He launched his five-stop tour of Texas on the third anniversary of Paxton's impeachment by the GOP-dominated Texas House for corruption and abuse of office. While Paxton was later acquitted in the case, he was directed to do community service and pay restitution under a pretrial agreement in March 2024 to avoid a trial on felony securities fraud charges, according to CNN.

Talarico's remarks about men being loyal stemmed from the high-voltage divorce of Paxton with his wife, state Sen. Angela Paxton, who cited "biblical grounds" for the separation after details of an affair came out during one of Paxton's trials. Furthermore, in a direct rebuke to Paxton's claims, Talarico recently sat down at a Smokey Joe's to eat barbecue. "I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first indictment," he said at a rally this week, referring to Paxton's 2015 indictment. On the attacks over his comments on there being more than two genders, Talarico admitted that he "missed the mark" with some comments during a CBS interview. "I know there are two sexes, men and women. I also know there's a very small percentage of people who have these chromosomal abnormalities, and I believe that they deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," he said.