Republicans claim James Talarico, Texas candidate for US Senate, is vegan. He's not

The last time Texas elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate was 1988. James Talarico, a member of the state House of Representatives, is hoping to buck the trend in 2026. 

That's made him the target of numerous barbed claims from a chronically online wing of the Republican Party, according to Wired. Dubious statements suggesting Talarico is transgender or has low levels of testosterone are an attempt to paint him as un-American, out-of-touch or otherwise unfit for the Senate seat.

Another of those barbs is the claim that Talarico is vegan. Talarico's opponent in the general election, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, has made the claim, as has President Donald Trump. Snopes readers wrote in looking for more information on the claim. 

Talarico isn't vegan, and there's video evidence of him eating meat. The claim is false. 

We contacted Talarico's campaign for comment on the story, while also reaching out to Paxton's campaign and the White House to ask why they were sharing the false claim. Paxton's campaign and the White House had not responded by publication.

"James is not and has never been a vegan or vegetarian," Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis told Snopes via email.

As a basic reminder, vegetarians refrain from eating meat, while vegans go a step further, abstaining from all animal-derived products, including milk and dairy, eggs and honey. All vegans are vegetarians, but not all vegetarians are vegans.

The closest thing Snopes found to Talarico saying he was vegan was at an event during the 2022 state House reelection campaign, where he said that the existential risk of climate change made it necessary to reduce meat consumption, and that he was therefore going to run a "non-meat campaign," buying vegan products from local vendors. 

Texas Republicans, including Sen. John Cornyn, who lost in the 2026 Republican primary to Paxton, shared that video while spreading the false claim that Talarico himself was vegan. (Snopes was unable to confirm whether Talarico's campaign held true to its "non-meat" promise.)

Perusing Talarico's campaign social media, we found several examples of him eating meat and eggs, including fried chicken and steak at Fiesta San Antonio and egg, potato and cheese breakfast tacos at a campaign event with former President Barack Obama.

In a March 2026 post on X, Ennis shared an "official statement from James Talarico on vegan accusations" — a photo of Talarico biting into a turkey leg at the State Fair of Texas.

(X user @jt_ennis)

Talarico also confirmed he wasn't a vegan during a May 2026 campaign speech in Houston. "Those are fighting words in the state of Texas," he said. "I'm an eighth-generation Texan. I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first indictment."

For more reading, Snopes previously confirmed that Trump said Talarico's beliefs were an "insult to Jesus" after he won the Democratic primary.