At a crucial turning point for our planet, for humans, and for nonhuman animals everywhere, juvenile politicians are choosing to use the word “vegan” as a political slur, instead of working on things that actually matter.

Absolute absurdity.

This all began with the burgeoning Republican talking point that James Talarico (D), Texas Senate candidate, is a vegan. He is not.

However, his opponent Ken Paxton (R), fueled by Donald Trump, set on a path to convince voters that Talarico was an “…extreme radical”. And what better way to do it than call someone a vegan as an insult? Perhaps the next new derogatory term will be “compassionate.”

This country needs fixing. To insinuate one’s opponent is not worthy because of a moral choice (that they haven’t even made) is beyond moronic. Especially so when it comes from Ken Paxton, Texas Attorney General, who has an entire laundry list of scandals ranging from criminal charges to infidelity. His own party even tried to impeach him in 2023.

Talarico, who was taunted with the term “vegan” after ordering a sandwich with animal products on it, could also stand to learn a lesson from this mess.

At one point, in 2022, Talarico was open to advocating for the truth. He gave a speech discussing animal welfare, climate change, and how reducing meat consumption was the “right” and “moral” thing to do for animals and our environment. He even declared his reelection campaign would be meat free and went on to support exclusively vegan products and business for a period of time. But, after some taunting from his opponent, he came back in 2026 stating that “he’s been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment”.

Shame on Talarico for being bullied into shifting his stance. Shame on his opponent, and DJT, for treating politics like a schoolyard. Their rudimentary “joke” doesn’t even hold, based on the facts.