Texas political beef gets oddly specific: 'We don't eat with a napkin'

The increasingly barbecue-centered Texas Senate race has taken an oddly specific turn as each candidate tries to prove their regional food bonafides.

Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton challenged his Democratic opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, to prove he likes barbecued meat as much as he claims, reported Chron.

"Let's meet at a barbecue restaurant and let's see how much you love barbecue," Paxton says in a video posted by conservative influencer Benny Johnson. "Let's have a real barbecue lunch."

Paxton and other conservatives have questioned Talarico's masculinity and Texas credentials by criticizing his eating habits and suggesting he's gay, and the Democratic legislator has insisted that he's not a vegan by posting photos of himself eating meat – but even that has prompted criticism that he's not sloppy enough.

"Who eats ribs with a napkin by the way? Is that normal in the State of Texas?" Johnson asks Paxton in the video, showing a photo of Talarico eating a beef rib while holding a napkin.

"We eat with our hands," Paxton said, "and we don't eat with a napkin until after it's all over."

The campaign to replace ousted Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who President Donald Trump declined to endorse, has focused on increasingly personal attacks Talarico and Paxton.

"I'm an 8th-generation Texan — I've been eating BBQ since before Ken Paxton's first indictment," Talarico wrote on the X post mocked by Paxton and Johnson.

Talarico also accused the scandal-plagued but Trump-endorsed attorney general of giving "Epstein-style sweetheart deals" to child sex offenders, referring to renewed scrutiny surrounding a plea agreement for a politically connected sex offender.

It's not clear whether the proposed barbecue summit will actually happen or where it would be hosted, and Chron said Talarico's campaign has not yet responded to a request for comment.