Trump keeps claiming Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico gets sick after eating barbecue and calls him “Tofu Talarico.” Talarico says he is not vegan and has publicly eaten barbecue.
Donald Trump has found a new line of attack in the Texas Senate race, and it is apparently gastrointestinal. The president keeps telling crowds that Democratic candidate James Talarico cannot handle Texas barbecue and supposedly throws up after eating it.
Trump has labeled him ‘Tofu Talarico,’ turning dietary habits into a campaign issue in a state where brisket can apparently now function as a citizenship test. The problem is that Talarico’s campaign says he is not vegan, and there is public evidence of him eating barbecue without the dramatic digestive ending Trump keeps describing.
The attack appears to trace back partly to a 2022 speech in which Talarico discussed plant-based food and climate concerns. That became raw material for Republican attacks portraying him as culturally out of step with Texas, and Trump has repeatedly embellished the story into claims that Talarico physically cannot stomach meat.
There is no evidence that Talarico routinely vomits after eating barbecue. The Washington Post reports that his campaign rejects the claim and points to public appearances where he has eaten meat. That has not stopped Trump from returning to the subject at rallies and in posts.
Republican figures including Ted Cruz and Ken Paxton have joined the food-based attacks, treating Talarico’s supposed diet as shorthand for whether he is authentically Texan. It is a political strategy built around the assumption that voters may forgive policy disagreements but draw the line at insufficient enthusiasm for smoked beef.
The whole thing would be merely silly if it were not being repeated by the president in a competitive Senate race. Food symbolism has always had a place in politics, from candidates eating corn dogs at state fairs to endless debates over whether somebody used the wrong utensil at a diner. Texas barbecue, however, has apparently been promoted from campaign prop to ideological screening device.
Talarico has tried to laugh off the attacks while redirecting attention to policy issues. His campaign says the story is false, and he has appeared publicly eating barbecue. That would normally settle a dietary allegation, but American politics has not been normal for some time.
The attack also fits Trump’s broader instinct for mocking opponents through physical habits, nicknames and personal quirks rather than policy alone. The goal is less to win a factual argument than to attach an image people remember. ‘Tofu Talarico’ is designed to make voters picture a candidate who supposedly does not belong in Texas culture.
Whether that works is another question. Some Republican strategists quoted in current reporting suggest voters are more concerned with affordability, corruption and the war than with whether a Democrat has the correct brisket credentials.
For now, though, the president of the United States keeps talking about a Senate candidate allegedly vomiting after barbecue — an allegation the candidate denies and reality has stubbornly failed to provide video evidence for. Texas politics has officially reached the point where opposition research comes with napkins and wet wipes.
