JD Vance claims James Talarico has a “weird obsession with children in drag”
JD Vance claims James Talarico has a “weird obsession with children in drag”. (Getty Images)
US vice president JD Vance has claimed that Texas Democrat James Talarico has a “weird obsession with children in drag”.
Speaking in a phone call to The Blaze, Vance said of Talarico: “I don’t know what this guy is up to,” before adding: “I think he’s well-versed in liberal political theology, but he also has, like, a weird obsession with children in drag.”
Vance went on to claim: “Very often, when you peel back the onion at people who are particularly concerned with drag queens and particularly focused on the beauty of 11-year-olds dressed in drag, or how wonderful it is that you have a 10-year-old who’s taking puberty blockers, very often, you peel back the onion, and those people, I think, have some pretty sick sexual fetishes.”
He added: “Of course, I don’t know that that’s true of James Talarico. All I know is that it’s very odd when you have a grown man talking about the beauty of 11-year-olds in drag. I would rather a grown man focus on literally anything else.”
Clip circulates after earlier jab
The clip was shared on 23 September, barely two weeks after Vance made similar remarks at the Republican National Committee’s midterm convention on 10 September in Dallas, Texas. During that speech, he said: “I never want to see that guy’s web browser history.”
Talarico has also been targeted by Republicans over his support for drag in recent weeks, including after he named his favourite drag queen as Alyssa Edwards.
Talarico’s faith-based defence of trans kids
Talarico has framed his support for LGBTQ+ people in religious terms. In April 2021, while opposing a Texas bill to ban trans students from school sports, he said: “Trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image,” adding: “There’s nothing wrong with them. Nothing at all. They are perfect, they are beautiful, and they are sacred. Bullying children is immoral. It’s a sin. A special kind of sin.”
Talarico is a Texas Democratic state legislator and US Senate candidate known for a public-facing, faith-inflected progressive message and social media-forward political communication. He has reportedly been leading Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in recent polls.
