Donald Trump has gone on a bizarre rant about meat, vomit, and a rising star of the Democratic Party.
The 80-year-old president took a swing at Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico on Wednesday, claiming he does not eat meat—a supposed death knell in the state of Texas.
“Because in Texas, if you don’t eat meat, you’re in deep trouble,” Trump rambled. “It’s not a good thing not to be able to not eat meat. He was wearing a mask six months ago. He had a mask on. When someone wears a mask six months ago, you’re in deep trouble.”
Referring to him as “Tala-creep-o,” Trump added, “Now he says he loves meat. You know what he does? He eats meat, and he goes outside, and he throws up all over the place.”
Trump was speaking during a dinner at the White House’s paved-over Rose Garden with at-risk Republican lawmakers. Talarico, 37, is facing off against the controversy-riddled, Trump-backed Ken Paxton in the November midterms.
Talarico has been attacked for supposedly being a vegan and saying that eating meat poses an “existential” threat to humanity. His team has denied the claims, even sharing images of him eating barbecue, but that did not stop Trump.
Trump was not particularly complimentary to Paxton at Wednesday’s event either. Despite endorsing him over incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in the primaries, he poked at his dress sense and media training.
“You might not like the way he dresses,” Trump said of Paxton. “It’s so insulting to him, but I might as well say it. You might not like the way he looks. You might not love his look. You might not love his television interviews.
“But he was the best attorney general in the country, perhaps. He was one of the best in the entire country, and that speaks a lot louder than the suit he’s wearing that doesn’t look so great, or than anything, frankly.”
Criticisms of the 63-year-old Paxton’s campaign strategy have emerged on the right, with Cornyn even saying he does not intend to give him a bump by campaigning on his behalf because “he’s lazy and doesn’t raise money.”
Talarico, meanwhile, has been voracious, having raised $68,555,930 through the end of June, compared to Paxton’s $9,248,698.
Speaking to Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Fox News host Martha MacCallum said that “Talarico is everywhere. He’s got $21 million versus Ken Paxton’s, I think, one or two million.”
