Rising Democratic star James Talarico has revealed that one of Donald Trump’s insults has actually worked in his favor.
The Texas Senate candidate presents a threat to Donald Trump as he runs against his controversial, scandal-strewn pick, Ken Paxton, who is the state’s attorney general.
The 80-year-old president’s favorite line of attack is his made-up nickname “Talafreako.” In several interviews, Trump has called Talarico “freaky,” and on Truth Social, he has repeatedly posted exaggerated, AI-generated images of Talarico captioned with the nickname.
But Talarico has found a brilliant way to use the president’s insult to his advantage, as the 37-year-old revealed in an interview on Jimmy Kimmel Live!—which aired on YouTube rather than on television after Kimmel claimed the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) “threatened” him, the ABC, and the network’s affiliates.
Kimmel displayed Trump’s latest comments about Talarico, in which he repeated his usual remarks. “I call him Talafreako because he’s a freaky guy,” the president told Fox News. “He’s got something wrong with him.”
Talarico responded, telling the audience that he offers “Talafreako” T-shirts on his official website and that the item is his “fastest-selling” merchandise.
The T-shirts read “I’m a Talafreako” and cost $36.
Kimmel joked, “Will Trump get a cut of that? Does he get it? I mean, to be fair, you should throw him a little something.”
“We’re grateful to the president for the nickname,” Talarico quipped.
Talarico is leading the race against Paxton in the traditionally red state. According to an AARP poll, 48 percent of Texas voters support Talarico, while 44 percent are backing Paxton.
The Democratic candidate appeared on Kimmel on Thursday night, but the interview did not air live. Kimmel released their conversation on the internet instead, citing pressure from the FCC and its Trump goon chairman Brendan Carr.
Kimmel said that the FCC “has threatened me, threatened our show, threatened our network, ABC, our affiliates, our local stations, based on simple, traditional, editorial decisions, guest bookings it would seem they don’t like.”
“They’re very nervous about the midterms, and rightly so... They’re in danger of losing a Senate seat in Texas, of all places.”
The White House denied Kimmel’s claim, stating that Carr did not threaten the ABC host about his interview with Talarico.
“Jimmy Kimmel is play-acting—as he often does—to create a false narrative about this administration’s policies,” spokesperson Davis Ingle told the Daily Beast in a statement. “Chairman Carr has not threatened him regarding interviewing James Talarico, or any other candidate. Any media outlet blindly amplifying Kimmel’s egocentric delusion should insist on proof. Of which they will find none.”
In February, Stephen Colbert said his former network, CBS, blocked him from having Talarico on his show to prevent Trump from becoming “cranky.” Colbert revealed he was told “in no uncertain terms” that he could not have the candidate on his show. He released his conversation on YouTube instead.
That same month, the FCC launched a probe into ABC’s The View for having Talarico on the show.
Following in Colbert’s footsteps, Kimmel said on Thursday, “Tonight, we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer that we not do it at all.”
His interview with Talarico has already become wildly popular, reaching over 1.3 million views on YouTube within hours.
In August, ABC filed a suit against the FCC, alleging that the MAGA-fied commission has “waged a retaliatory campaign against ABC for a single reason: it disapproves of what ABC broadcasts.”
