Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico sure seems to spend a lot of time running away from his previous woke statements. He's run away from his bragging about his vegan campaign, he's run away from any number of other former "woke" positions, including his advocacy for the egregiously stupid "defund the police" notion.
Now, though, Talarico's denials and evasions are even costing him support from the legacy media, and his campaign should take note; after all, when you've lost CNN...
NEW KFILE looking at James Talarico’s record on policing in 2020. Talarico told a youth group then calling for defunding police that it was "rich" that "defund the police" was "off limits" in political debate when Texas had spent decades defunding public schools and health services. Said, "Our system of policing is deeply broken. We must replace it with something new and something better," and asked about instead sending "highly-trained crisis interventionists," some for some emergencies. In June 2020, he donated $2,500 to the Austin Justice Coalition, a group calling for defunding police, a donation he later defended. He also criticized Gov. Abbott's proposal to cut revenue to cities like Austin over local decisions to reduce police funding. In 2022, Talarico said that if the country took "just half of what we spent on wars, prisons, and policing" and spent it on education, health care, and jobs, "we could make prisons obsolete." Talarico's campaign says he "did not call for and does not support defunding the police" and has voted to send billions of dollars to local law enforcement. https://t.co/45wD248YJe
— Andrew Kaczynski (@KFILE) October 5, 2026
CNN's Andrew Kaczynski's post reads in full:
NEW KFILE looking at James Talarico’s record on policing in 2020. Talarico told a youth group then calling for defunding police that it was "rich" that "defund the police" was "off limits" in political debate when Texas had spent decades defunding public schools and health services. Said, "Our system of policing is deeply broken. We must replace it with something new and something better," and asked about instead sending "highly-trained crisis interventionists," some for some emergencies.
In June 2020, he donated $2,500 to the Austin Justice Coalition, a group calling for defunding police, a donation he later defended. He also criticized Gov. Abbott's proposal to cut revenue to cities like Austin over local decisions to reduce police funding. In 2022, Talarico said that if the country took "just half of what we spent on wars, prisons, and policing" and spent it on education, health care, and jobs, "we could make prisons obsolete."
Talarico's campaign says he "did not call for and does not support defunding the police" and has voted to send billions of dollars to local law enforcement.
Uh huh. CNN, in a story at their website, has more details.
Now running for the US Senate, Talarico’s campaign calls it a “flat-out lie” that he ever supported defunding the police and points to his votes for state appropriations bills that increased funding for law enforcement. And in a statement to CNN, Talarico’s campaign reiterated his opposition to defunding police.
“James did not call for and does not support defunding the police, and he strongly supports Texas law enforcement and first responders,” spokesperson JT Ennis said. “That’s why James has voted to send billions of dollars to local law enforcement, in addition to advocating for better-funded mental health resources so that cops don’t have to respond to mental health emergencies that could be handled by a counselor.”
He clearly supported defunding the police. That's what "replace it with something new" would entail. And the "something else" would be a disaster. What's more, Talarico, in that 2020 statement, drew one of the dumbest comparisons imaginable, when he complains that we should be spending money not on national defense or law & order, but on education, healthcare and jobs. For one thing, prisons will never be obsolete; there will always, sadly, be those irredeemable people among us who simply have to be locked away, to protect the populace. For another thing, when has spending on education and jobs by government ever resulted in better education or more jobs?
James Talarico is espousing the same old leftist corral litter that the Left has been pushing for decades, the same policies that fail every time they're tried. That's all.
More and more, James Talarico exposes himself for what he is: A far-left nutcase, totally unsuited for any Senate seat, much less one from Texas. If there's any sanity left in the world, the Lone Star State will go overwhelmingly for Ken Paxton next month. Enough is enough.
Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.
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