James Talarico on the Rage Economy, Billionaires and Flipping Texas

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Michael Barbaro (0:29)

From the New York Times, I'm Michael Barbaro. This is The Daily. In bright red Texas, James Talarico is trying to become the first Democrat to be elected to the United States Senate in nearly 40 years in what's become, by far, the most expensive and ferocious campaign of this year's midterm elections. Today, we speak with Talarico about the kind of race he's running, the highly personal campaign against him, and what he wants Democrats to do if they take back control of Congress. It's Tuesday, October 20th.

Hey there.

James Talarico (1:10)

Hey, how are you? Good.

Michael Barbaro (1:12)

Can you hear me?

James Talarico (1:13)

I can. Can you hear me?

Michael Barbaro (1:14)

I can. Thank you for joining us, Representative James Talarico. Welcome to The Daily.

James Talarico (1:19)

Oh, thank you for having me.

Michael Barbaro (1:20)

My pleasure. I know you just emerged from a really nasty flu, arguably the most famous flu in modern campaign history.

James Talarico (1:29)

Flu gate, yeah.

Michael Barbaro (1:31)

So I know you have a lot of campaigning to make up for, so it means a lot that you found the time for us. I just want to get out of the way.

We asked your opponent, Ken Paxton, the Republican Attorney General in Texas, for an interview as well, and so far we haven't locked anything down, so stay tuned. I want to explain, Representative, why we're talking to you at this specific moment in this midterm campaign, about two weeks out from election day.

And that's because what's become clear in our coverage on the show, and really across time's coverage, is that a good number of disillusioned Republican voters are upset enough with President Trump that they are unusually open to voting for Democrats in this election, even in very red states. And nowhere is that dynamic we've been talking about on more vivid display than your race in Texas. This is a state that President Trump won in 2024 by 14 points, and where you have nevertheless been leading in the polls now for weeks. Which is why I think it's safe to say you've become the Democrat that Republicans fear the most in these midterms. They are throwing an extraordinarily expensive and ferocious campaign against you. So between those two polls of being the rare Democrat who might flip Texas for the first time in decades and this really aggressive campaign by Republicans to make sure that never happens, how does it feel to be the guy in the middle of all of that right now?

James Talarico (3:00)

Well, we are still very much the underdogs. We're going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas who is backed by the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world, both the president and Elon Musk are backing our opponent, Ken Paxton. And so we are the underdogs until the last vote is counted. And you're exactly right. They have already poured $200 million into this race. They spent it on attack ads against me, making me look as scary as possible.

And it's because Elon Musk is trying to buy his own personal US. Senator. But I really do believe that on November 3rd, our state is going to send the world's first trillionaire a very clear message that Texas is not for sale.

Michael Barbaro (3:45)

I want to talk about what has unfolded over the past couple of days and weeks as all this money and muscle has been thrown at you because it's quite singular. I mean, just over the past week, Republicans have claimed, back to the famous flu, you were checked into an Ohio mental institution, basically that you went crazy.

And no less than the Vice President of the United States, JD. Vance, has doubled down on a claim, if I can distill his remarks, that you are a pervert with a problematic online search history. I mean, campaigns have always been full of personal attacks. They've always been negative. But how do you interpret this quite extreme version of that?

James Talarico (4:27)

Yeah, I mean, I think this is an example of what I call the rage economy. Conspiracy theorists can post anything they want online. Politicians can say anything they want online. The poster gets clicks.