James Talarico challenges GOP’s trans focus: ‘The only minority destroying America is billionaires’
Talarico has criticised the use of rhetoric targeting transgender people (Getty Images)
Texas Democrat James Talarico has criticised the use of rhetoric targeting transgender people in US politics, arguing that powerful figures are using marginalised communities as scapegoats while distracting voters from economic pressures and political corruption.
Speaking during a CNN and Jubilee town hall in Texas on 14 October, Talarico responded to a voter who questioned why transgender people have become such a prominent target of political debate.
“Powerful people are using small minorities in our community to distract from their corruption,” Talarico said. “The only minority destroying America is the billionaires.”
The exchange comes amid Republican efforts to make transgender rights a focus of political campaigning, despite growing questions about whether such attacks are resonating with voters.
‘It’s essentially a non-issue’
During the town hall, a voter challenged Talarico on the political focus on transgender people, pointing to the small number of young people who receive gender-affirming surgery.
“The number of people under 18 that are getting gender-affirming surgeries, it’s 0.002 per cent,” the voter said. “It’s essentially a non-issue.”
The voter also expressed frustration with the wider political debate, arguing that people were growing tired of targeted trans rhetoric and the suggestion that transgender people represent one of the country’s biggest problems.
Talarico agreed that political leaders were directing attention towards minority communities rather than addressing more pressing concerns.
Talarico has also recently faced criticism over his own positions on transgender rights, particularly his stance on trans girls participating in school sports.
In September, Talarico said he opposed trans athletes competing in girls’ sports where he believed it jeopardised safety or fairness. He has also criticised politicians for using transgender people to score political points.
Are political attacks against trans people losing their impact?
Talarico is not the only politician questioning the effectiveness of anti-trans campaigning.
Republican Texas state representative Dade Phelan recently told Texas Monthly that attacks focused on transgender people were no longer resonating with voters as they had in 2024.
“It’s just not resonating,” Phelan said. “Let’s be honest. The 8 to 10% of voters in the middle who are going to decide this election, when they hear stuff about boys in girls’ sports, they don’t even know what you’re talking about.”
Texas senator Ted Cruz has also recently invoked the idea of “transgender witches” who “hate Donald Trump” because Democrats are not currently in power in comments attempting to rationalise the GOP’s poor polling leading up to the midterm elections.
The key issues voters are concerned about
Rising food and fuel costs, healthcare bills and concerns about political corruption are all current, major challenges for American households and are important issues to the average American voter. Talarico has argued that billionaire donors and wealthy special interests wield too much influence over politicians and public policy.
His criticism also speaks to the real-life impact of political scapegoating on marginalised communities. Transgender people have faced an expanding wave of legislative restrictions and public attacks across the US, with debates over school sports, bathrooms and gender-affirming healthcare frequently dominating political messaging.
Talarico’s intervention places the responsibility for America’s problems elsewhere: on wealthy individuals and powerful political interests, rather than minority groups.
