Jasmine Crockett’s Texas opponent James Talarico called out for alleged ‘mediocre Black man’ remark

“Don’t come for me unless I send for you. Okay, James, and keep my name out of your mouth while you’re at it,” said former U.S. Congressman Colin Allred after claims from an influencer went viral.

The Democratic race for U.S. Senate in Texas has officially turned messy. While U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett and Texas State Rep. James Talarico still have a month before they face off in a primary election for the U.S. Senate seat, former U.S. Congressman Colin Allred shook up the primary battle with a tense video callout of Talarico over the alleged claim that Talarico called him a “mediocre Black man.”

In a video posted on social media on Monday, Allred, who dropped out of the U.S. Senate race after Crockett declared her candidacy in December, said, “I understand that James Talarico had the temerity and the audacity to say to a Black woman that he had signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, meaning me, not a formidable, intelligent Black woman, meaning Jasmine Crockett.”

He continued, “Let me just give you some free advice, James. If you want to compliment Black women, just do it…Don’t do it while also tearing down a Black man.”

The former congressman and NFL player, who in the same video endorsed Crockett for U.S. Senate, told Talarico, “Don’t come for me unless I send for you. Okay, James, and keep my name out of your mouth while you’re at it.”

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At the center of the unexpected Democratic feud is a claim from Morgan Thompson, a TikTok influencer (@morgan_tt) whose content focuses on Texas politics. In a video post, Thompson recounted a one-on-one conversation she had with Talarico that she claims was coordinated by Talarico’s campaign.

“James Talarico told me that he signed up to run against a mediocre Black man, not a formidable and intelligent Black woman,” said Thompson in a video posted on Sunday.

In a separate video that shares an image of her and Talarico after their conversation, Thompson says the intent of their meeting was for her to address her concerns about the Texas State representative’s campaign working with longtime Democratic consultant James Carville, who had previously written an article about the Democratic Party needing to drop “woke politics.” The debate over “wokeness” has largely been rejected by Black Democrats who say it alienates Black and brown constituents.

Thompson, who said she had supported Talarico until Crockett entered the race, shared that she had prior engagements with Talarico and his campaign. She claims the campaign, apparently trying to maintain positive engagement with an influential voice on a powerful social media platform, offered her to chat with Talarico personally about her concerns at a Jan. 12 town hall. Thompson said she agreed to an off-the-record conversation because she wanted it to be “candid.”

“I told him…I’m concerned about you potentially trying to get Black people’s vote in order to get an office, and then subscribing to this thought process that’s going to put us to the side, even though you’re advocating for things like affordability, health care, all that kind of stuff…And he was like, ‘Oh…you don’t want me to be a sellout.’ I was like, ‘Pretty much, yeah,'” recalled Thompson.

She admits she “laughed it off” when Talarico allegedly made the “mediocre Black man” remark, explaining, “It really threw me off, like, considering the conversation we just had.”

Once Morgan Thompson’s recount went viral and landed in Allred’s inbox, the former congressman did not hold back, blasting Talarico.

“If you ever have a coach or somebody, a leader in your life, tell you that when you make an accusation, you often have a bit of confession in it, maybe you used the word mediocre because there’s something creeping into your mind about yourself,” said Allred.

Taking a dig at Talarico’s perceived strength as a Democratic candidate in a red state like Texas because he is a theologian, Allred added, “You are not saving religion for the Democratic Party or the left. We already had Senator, Reverend, Dr. Raphael Warnock for that. We don’t need you. You’re not saying anything unique. You’re just saying it looking like you do.”

TheGrio reached out to Talarico’s Senate campaign for comment on Thompson’s allegations, but did not receive a response in time for publication.

In a statement provided to theGrio, Morgan Thompson said of Talarico’s alleged remarks, “Although Black people may have different perspectives and lived experiences, we collectively know how much work it takes to achieve the things we do. We have to work two times as hard to get half as much.”

She added, “So I’m happy Colin had the chance to directly address James’ comments because they were not fair to him. No matter how you feel about Colin as a politician, his achievements shouldn’t be minimized.” 

In defending against criticisms, Thompson, who said she did not have a recording of the alleged remarks, said in a separate TikTok post, “People not believing me does not bother me. I expected it.”

“If anything, I welcome skepticism, because that means that you all are critically engaging with the information being presented to you. I think that is valid, and I support people that do that,” she said. “You also got to temper that with the unconscious biases that you are approaching this information with, because a lot of the stuff I’m getting is racially charged, and it’s focusing on me as a person that’s bringing it forward, instead of trying to interrogate the fact that this man said it to me in the first place.”

The influencer added, “Have y’all thought about the fact that I am one singular Black woman that’s against a campaign that has millions of dollars and is working with some big ass consultants and agencies…And you think that that doesn’t come with some level of intimidation? I’d be stupid not to think twice before sharing something like this.”