Texas AG Ken Paxton calls James Talarico’s support for trans kids ‘weird’ in runoff victory speech

For years, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has built his political brand around grievance, confrontation, and attacks on LGBTQ+ people. On Tuesday night, moments after toppling Sen. John Cornyn in one of the most consequential Republican primary upsets of the Trump era, he returned to one of the movement’s favorite targets, transgender children.

Standing before supporters during his Senate primary runoff victory speech, Paxton mocked Democratic opponent James Talarico and ridiculed his support for transgender youth, calling his support for trans kids “weird” while painting the Austin-area state representative as an extremist unfit for office.

“When asked, what do you love outside of his family and friends?” Paxton told the crowd. “His first answer was trans kids. That’s weird, and that’s a radical guy.”

Related: John Cornyn booted from Senate as indicted anti-trans Texas AG Ken Paxton clinches GOP nomination

The comments are a likely early glimpse into what could become one of the nation’s ugliest Senate races as Republicans increasingly center transgender people, especially trans youth, in their electoral messaging.

Paxton’s victory itself marked a political earthquake in Texas. The four-term attorney general, long viewed as a MAGA insurgent despite years of scandal, defeated Cornyn, one of the most powerful and institutionally connected Republicans in Washington. President Donald Trump’s last-minute endorsement helped propel Paxton over the finish line after months of attacks portraying Cornyn as weak, disloyal, and out of touch with the Republican base.

During a speech that often veered from triumphant to taunting, Paxton hurled a string of insults at Talarico, mocking his faith and his support for transgender people.

Related: Texas court further blocks AG Ken Paxton's demand for info on organization's transgender youth support

“He’s a vegan who thinks God is non-binary and that there’s actually six biological sexes,” Paxton said. “It’s hard to imagine someone more radical than that.”

The “vegan” attacks have become a fixation among Republicans trying to caricature Talarico as culturally alien to Texas voters, despite the Democrat repeatedly insisting he is not vegan. After earlier criticism from Republicans and Trump allies over past comments about reducing meat consumption, Talarico pushed back this week by telling The MeidasTouch podcast that he had been “eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”

Related: Texas AG Ken Paxton says ban on gender-affirming care for trans kids also applies to talk therapy

The speech underscored how thoroughly anti-trans politics have become embedded within the Republican Party’s modern identity, particularly in Texas, where Paxton has spent years transforming the attorney general’s office into a legal command center for conservative culture war battles.

Under Paxton, Texas sought to investigate parents of transgender children for alleged child abuse, defended bans on gender-affirming care, challenged federal LGBTQ+ protections, and repeatedly joined multistate lawsuits targeting transgender rights. Civil rights groups and LGBTQ+ advocates have accused Paxton of helping turn Texas into a testing ground for the national movement against trans equality.

Talarico responded later Tuesday during an MS NOW appearance on The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell, accusing Paxton of weaponizing division to distract from corruption and economic anxieties affecting Texans.

“This is how puppet politicians like Ken Paxton stay in power,” Talarico said. “The only way he’s going to hold onto power is through distraction and division.”

Talarico argued that Republicans were intentionally inflaming social issues so voters would overlook rising costs and political corruption.

“They divide us by party, by race, by gender, by religion, by all this culture war stuff,” he said.

“Ken Paxton is clipping comments, taking them out of context to try to paint a picture,” Talarico added.

He contrasted his legislative record with Paxton’s years of legal troubles, including securities fraud charges, impeachment proceedings, and accusations from former aides that Paxton abused his office for personal gain.

“I’m going to put that record up against Ken Paxton’s criminal record any day of the week,” Talarico said. “Twice on Sunday.”