Dem Senate hopeful Talarico calls for Texans to 'fight' the billionaires

Democratic Senate candidate in Texas, James Talarico, has called on Texans to "fight" the billionaire class, claiming that the biggest political divide in America is not "left versus right" but "top versus bottom."

Talarico made the comments while on stage at a recent town hall event, where he said, "The only minority destroying America is the billionaires."

"Trans people are 1 percent of the population. Muslims are 1 percent of the population. Undocumented people are 1 percent of the population. We are focused on the wrong 1 percent," he added. He then claimed that "billionaires and their puppet politicians" are taking away Americans' healthcare, defunding schools, and cutting taxes for themselves and "their rich friends."

"The culture wars are a smokescreen. So many of the divisions in this state and in this country are manufactured by billionaires who want us fighting each other instead of fighting them. They want us, they want us looking left and right at our neighbors instead of looking up at them. The biggest divide in our politics is not left versus right, it's top versus bottom," he added.

Talarico, who is running up against Democrat Rep. Jasmine Crockett for a spot in the US Senate for the state of Texas, has consistently used the talking point that the US is not "left versus right" but is "top versus bottom," in an appeal to make his election about class instead of political view. He used the same point when he appeared on Joe Rogan's podcast in January.

His campaign page uses the same line, where he says, "The biggest divide in this country is not left vs. right. It’s top vs. bottom. Billionaires want us looking left and right at each other instead of looking up at them."

A recent poll from the University of Houston found that Crockett is leading Talarico in the Democrat primary, leading 47 to 39 points among likely March 2026 Democrat primary voters.