'James Talarico isn't a vegan. But that was never the point.'

(MS NOW) "In recent days, Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton, other state Republicans and conservative media have attacked Democratic nominee James Talarico for having a vegan girlfriend and possibly even being vegan himself."

"The latest beef began when the New York Post revealed the identity of Talarico’s girlfriend, Brianna Menard, in a story that was downright obsessed with her diet, referring to her as his 'tofu-loving girlfriend,' 'a vegan political lobbyist' and 'a committed vegan' in a story whose very headline included the fact that she’s vegan. Even vegans don’t talk this much about being vegan."

"Talarico hit back, calling the claim that he’s a vegan a lie and adding snarkily that he’s 'been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.' "

"But this wasn’t the first time Republicans threw red meat to their base over Talarico’s supposed diet. After he ordered potato, egg and cheese breakfast tacos during a visit to a taco restaurant in May, Republican Gov. Greg Abbott argued that he is 'not beating the vegetarian allegations.' (Notably, eggs and cheese are not vegan.) President Donald Trump then chimed in, again claiming that Talarico is a vegan and saying 'you can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas.' In his victory speech after the Republican primary runoff, Paxton tagged him with the nickname 'Tofu Talarico' and accused him of being vegan, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz claimed that Talarico "wants to BAN BBQ' because of remarks he’s made about reducing meat consumption to fight climate change."



Opinion piece at link:

https://www.ms.now/opinion/james-talarico-vegan-texas-republicans