Trump attacks Talarico at Texas rally for Paxton as Senate rivals make final push

President Donald Trump attacked Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico at a rally in Lubbock, Texas, on October 27, while campaigning for Republican Ken Paxton ahead of the following week's midterm elections. Trump also appeared with Paxton in Corpus Christi; Talarico campaigned in Amarillo and held his own Lubbock rally that evening.

The competing events put the candidates' messages before voters in the final stretch of a Texas race in which Democrats are seeking their first statewide election victory in more than three decades, according to the Associated Press. Trump was making his third Texas campaign trip that month, CBS News reported.

Trump's attacks on Talarico in Lubbock

The Guardian reported that Trump attacked Talarico over his expressions of support in 2023 for transgender children demonstrating at the Texas state Capitol. It also reported that Trump falsely claimed Talarico had said ‘God is transgender.’ The Associated Press said Trump highlighted an earlier US military operation in Venezuela during the Texas campaign trip.

Paxton praised Trump at the Lubbock rally and said they had spent the day together, starting with the Corpus Christi stop, according to NBC. Their appearances followed earlier campaign events in the same race, including Trump's San Antonio rally for Paxton, which was repeatedly interrupted by protesters.

Talarico's competing campaign message

At his events, Talarico criticized what he called a ‘broken, corrupt’ political system, the Associated Press reported. In Lubbock, NBC reported, he linked affordability to corruption and described Paxton as the embodiment of that system. Democrats at the rally raised high gas prices and rural hospital closures as concerns for voters.

Talarico also embraced a nickname used by his supporters, referring to ‘Talafreakos’ at the Lubbock event, NBC reported. His campaign said more than 4,000 people had signed up to attend; that figure describes registrations rather than a verified crowd size.

NBC described Talarico's trip to Republican territory as an effort to win crossover voters. It reported a narrow polling lead for him, although the poll and its field dates were not identified in the reported passage. The candidates' rival rallies showed the arguments each side was making before voters cast ballots the following week.