GOP smear attempt of Senate hopeful backfires as even conservatives mock 'creepy' attack

With Texas state Rep. James Talarico officially the Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in the Lone Star State, Republicans have turned to opposition research to find anything they can throw at him — but one of their first attempts this week landed with a thud.

Talarico, a Christian minister, previously worked as a schoolteacher in an underprivileged part of San Antonio. And it's from his school days that Republican operatives attempted to dig up something to attack him with.

Longtime GOP strategist Bobby LeValley took to X on Wednesday, with a screenshot of an old Facebook post from 2012 in which Talarico wrote, “Looking forward to spending my birthday with the 6th grade boys at UT tomorrow!” The post was obviously referring to a field trip to the state's flagship university — but LeValley used it to imply, without any basis, that Talarico had been engaged in predatory behavior toward minors.

"Democrat James Talarico posted this in 2012: 'Looking forward to spending my birthday with the 6th grade boys…' No teacher, let alone a U.S. Senate candidate, should ever post that," LeValley wrote. This was accompanied by a writeup in the far-right Dallas Express newspaper, stating, "RNC Exposes James Talarico’s 'Creepy' Teacher Facebook Posts."

This did not land with the reaction GOP operatives were likely hoping for, with commenters mostly laughing at how weak it was, and even some conservatives dismissing it as a non-issue.

"A teacher taking his kids to a university event is just good educating," wrote blogger and reporter Zaid Jilani. "This being pushed by GOP comms people suggests you guys think about kids the same way Jeffrey Epstein and his friend Donald Trump do."

"Genuinely confused what the hit is here?" wrote Pat Dennis of the American Bridge super PAC.

"'Look I don't like Talarico… but this is silly," wrote religion columnist Bethel McGrew.