Texas state legislator James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate in Texas, is facing criticism from Republican leaders and political commentators after an earlier social media post about “white skin” resurfaced and drew sharp reactions ahead of the November election, as reported by The New York Post.

Talarico, who defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) in Tuesday’s Democratic primary, secured the party’s nomination in the race for one of Texas’ two U.S. Senate seats.

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Austin, Texas United States - July 25th, 2025 - Jasmine Crockett Speaks at Powered by the People Democratic Political Rally

Democrats have not won a Senate seat in Texas since 1988.

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The controversy centers on a post Talarico shared on X on May 8, 2020. In the message, he linked the COVID-19 pandemic with discussions surrounding systemic racism following the killing of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia.

“White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus,” Talarico’s full post read.

“But we spread it wherever we go—through our words, our actions, and our systems. We don’t have to be showing symptoms—like a white hood or a Confederate flag—to be contagious.”

The resurfaced post prompted criticism from several Republican officials and commentators.

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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott responded directly to the message, suggesting it could damage Talarico’s chances in the general election.

“If this is a real Talarico post, he is toast,” Abbott said. “This is Tim Walz clone territory. He could win in Minnesota, but not in Texas.”

Abbott is currently seeking a fourth term as governor.

U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also weighed in on the remarks, criticizing the language used in the post.

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“Left-wing zealots are very, very different from ordinary Americans. Among other things, they are open racists,” Cruz said.

Additional criticism came from Iowa Solicitor General Eric Wessan, who objected to the framing of the statement.

“Officials should not treat people differently based on skin color. There is nothing magic in Mr. Talarico’s complexion. It’s not infectious, evil, or bad,” Wessan said.

He added, “To the extent he is trying to attack ‘the West’, that’s wrong too. Stereotyping whiteness as KKK or confederate is gross.”

Political commentators and media figures also commented on the resurfaced post.

Journalist Josh Barro suggested that Talarico should address the remarks directly.

“Talarico should try something unusual that worked for [New York City Mayor] Zohran Mamdani: He should apologize for bad past comments,” Barro wrote. “Mamdani didn’t win skeptics over just by being handsome and charming — he announced that he had changed and said he was sorry. (Kamala should have tried this too!)”

Commentary editor John Podhoretz referenced a previous remark from Talarico while discussing how the statement could affect the campaign.

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“Add this to ‘God is non-binary,‘ and you have a Republican campaign against him,” Podhoretz said, referencing a 2021 video in which Talarico used that phrase during remarks on the floor of the Texas legislature.

Fox News contributor Mary Katharine Ham also commented on the resurfaced message.

“There’s a rational desire from Dems to find a candidate who didn’t say this stuff publicly in 2020-22, so they can pretend they didn’t put us all through this nonsense,” Ham said. “But it will be hard to find a non-R person old enough to run for office who didn’t [because] ‘silence was violence.'”

Talarico’s campaign responded to the criticism through spokesman JT Ennis.

“While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November,” Ennis said.

He continued, “Our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people.”

Ennis also accused several Republican officials of attempting to undermine the campaign.

He said U.S. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, Abbott, and “the billionaires who prop them up” are “scared of James Talarico for good reason.”

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The Democratic nominee will face the Republican candidate in November. On the Republican side of the race, both Cornyn and Paxton advanced to a May 26 runoff after neither candidate secured a majority in the party’s primary election.

Texas voters will ultimately decide the race during the November general election.

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