'Would I Lie to You?' James Talarico’s Campaign Has a Truth Problem.

The hits just keep coming for Texas state Rep. James Talarico. He’s been busted for voting using his parents' address when he has a home of his own and for having a relationship with his chief of staff before she left his office. He even shares a checking account with his mom. Every time he tries to demean Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, he winds up stuffing his foot in his mouth. Maybe he likes the taste of shoe leather. He certainly gets to eat it often.

His latest inanity is an ad on X that features three blonde, white women sitting around a table, being questioned about whom they are going to vote for. The questioner says to them, “You’ve been voting Republican for most of your voting lives. Who’s voting for James Talarico?” Take a guess at what they do next. Go on, guess. That’s right! All three “Republican” women raise their hands and say they’re voting for Talarico. To quote Dr. Evil, “Riiiiiiight.”

They explain their reasons for voting for Talarico. One “mom” says, “I like him. He was a middle school teacher in a public school in Texas.” Another says, “I want a middle school teacher who’s like, hey, this is broken.” The third says, “Give me somebody who’s not an extremist,” and “I’m going to vote for whoever is the most common sense.” Has that last one actually looked at Talarico’s positions? God is nonbinary? There are six genders? Talarico loves trans kids? Which of those positions is not extremist? Which one is common sense?

Further along in the ad, one of the women states, “You need to get on the bus that’s driving closest to where you want to end up,” and “Talarico, I find him to be pretty moderate, and I think that is telling of what’s happening in the state of Texas. The Republicans should be worried.” All of the women nod and agree with each other as the ad ends, and, so help me, the woman on the far left looks like Rachel Levine.

Now, this sounds like a charming, down-to-earth ad showing the people who are watching it that it’s okay to vote Democrat. It’s okay to vote for Talarico. After all, since those Republican moms are voting for him, you should too. This ad is using what is known as the bandwagon fallacy, which is defined as a logical error where someone argues that a belief or action is correct simply because many people support it. The fallacy assumes that popularity equates to truth, which isn’t always the case. It certainly isn’t here.

There are several glaring problems with this ad. The biggest and most obvious one is that none of the women in that ad are or have ever been Republicans. Two out of the three women in the ad voted in the Democrat primaries in 2026 and in earlier years. Right here is where the fallacy falls apart. How can Republicans say it’s okay to vote Democrat when they’ve never voted Republican? The voting records were found through public records.

Words fail me, they really do. In this day and age, the Talarico campaign put this ad out and, apparently, thought that no one would check on the women and see if their claims were true. Did Talarico’s campaign ever consider that people might fact-check the campaign's claims? Politicians lie, they all do, every day. Some are just better at it than others. In this case, Talarico is just awful. He lies and gets caught. Once caught, people might start to think, if he’s lying this badly in this ad, what else is he lying about?

Another question to consider: Why put out this ad if Talarico is leading in the polls? What is the point of putting out an ad that can be checked so easily if you’re leading? Why bother? Maybe Talarico isn’t really leading? Maybe the race is neck and neck? Maybe there aren’t enough people in Texas who are willing to vote for someone who claims to have run a meat-free campaign in Texas, only to turn around and be pictured biting into an order of ribs?

The “Republican moms” ad isn’t the first time he’s been caught stretching the truth. A recent ad shows Talarico driving a pickup truck around the state to prove his manhood and what a down-to-earth Texan he is. Talarico wants to show what a manly man he is, which is fine, but he might want to actually own the truck he’s driving. Yes, Talarico is such a manly man that he’s driving a Dodge Ram 1500 pickup truck rented from Enterprise Rent-A-Car.

Seriously? This is the best the Texas Democrat Party can do? I’d laugh if it wasn’t so sad. Supposedly he owns a Chevy Colorado, but he doesn’t drive it in the ad. Why not? Does he not actually own one? Is there anything real about this guy, or is everything made up?

He doesn’t do himself any favors when old tweets of his pop up in the most cringe-inducing way. Way back in 2021, Talarico received a Fauci action figure for Christmas. He was beside himself with glee when he tweeted, “I got the coolest action figure for Christmas! Thank you to all the health care superheroes working today. Let’s help by getting vaxxed and boosted!” How old is this person? Physically, not mentally. Mentally, he’s probably about ten.

Again, this is the best the Texas Democrat Party can do? THIS is whom they supported over Jasmine Crockett? Really? No wonder she’s ticked. I would be, too. I don’t think they’d have to use a rented pickup truck in her ads. Of course, in her ads, she’d probably be in the back of a car being driven the two blocks between her apartment and her office. (Eye roll)

Talarico is so desperate to be seen as a real Texan, a real man, that he comes off looking like a real idiot, but that seems to be what Democrats are. They try to be something they aren’t, and when it fails, they get mad at everyone who saw them fail. They don’t look within and think, “Maybe that wasn’t a good idea. Maybe I shouldn’t try so hard next time.” No, they don’t think at all. It’s never their fault; it’s everyone else’s for not recognizing how much better they are than everyone else.

In the spirit of a true Texan, I am going to suggest to the Talarico campaign a new campaign song. It’s an oldie but a goodie, recorded long before he was born: “Would I Lie to You?” by the Eurythmics. The third line in the song is: “Now would I say something that wasn’t true?” It’s perfect!

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