Texas Dem Talarico's ‘culture of violence’ remarks resurface as he denies defund police ties
FIRST ON FOX: Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is pushing back on the idea that he supports defunding the police, calling it a "flat out lie."Republicans are confronting Talarico...
By Fox News · Fox News
FIRST ON FOX: Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is pushing back on the idea that he supports defunding the police, calling it a "flat out lie." Republicans are confronting Talarico with resurfaced comments from a 2019 episode of the Trey Blocker Show , in which he suggests that a heavy police presence in schools without sufficient mental health professionals contributes to a "culture of violence." Democrats believe they have a shot at flipping the critical Senate seat blue for the first time in decades. But the GOP hopes to defend their Senate majority by highlighting Talarico's more controversial stances to undermine his moderate appeal. The latest to be unearthed is from the 2019 interview, in which Talarico decried plans to increase police officer presence in schools without also placing more emphasis on mental health. FLASHBACK: DEM SENATE NOMINEE CALLED ILLEGAL ALIENS 'CONSTITUENTS,' GAVE ADVICE ON EVADING ICE "We’re all concerned about school safety and recent school shootings, and that concern, in some ways, has been channeled unproductively toward militarizing schools and toward kind of leaning into a culture of violence and adding more law enforcement officials into campuses," he posited. As a solution, Talarico, a former middle school teacher, touted the first bill he introduced as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, which would have mandated a set ratio of mental health workers for every police officer placed in a school. He stressed that "if a crime has been committed, a law has been broken or there’s an immediate danger to students, of course, we want our law enforcement officials to address it," but emphasized that "law enforcement officials shouldn’t be conducting behavior interventions." Commenting on this, Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft called the bill "a scary combination of two of James Talarico's favorite things," which he said are "defunding the police and pushing his woke agenda on kids." Kraft to…