Topline
The official X account of the Democratic Party blasted Deputy White House Chief of Staff Stephen Miller on Wednesday, telling him “shut up you ugly f—” in response to a comment he made about Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who faces insults from the Trump administration after winning the state’s Democratic U.S. Senate primary.
Key Facts
Responding to a photo of Talarico posted by the Democrats Tuesday night, Miller said “Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender senate candidate.”
The Democrats responded to Miller early Wednesday afternoon by saying, “shut up you ugly f—.”
The post had nearly 12 million impressions as of just after 7:30 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, with Miller’s post having nearly 5 million impressions and the Democrats’ original coming in with more than 6.5 million.
Chief Critic
Former Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., addressed the exchange between Miller and the Democrats’ account and said, “Until they condemn this tweet, the GOP can stfu about the tone of any Dem tweet,” sharing a photo of Truth Social post from President Donald Trump in which he celebrated former FBI Director Robert Mueller’s death.
Tangent
Stephen Miller’s wife, Katie Miller, later posted a photo of a staffer who she claimed ran the Democrats’ account on X, also claiming the staffer was “a sad, unhappy, female Liberal” who was unmarried. The staffer, Paulina Mangubat, responded to Katie Miller with a photo of her in a wedding dress captioned, “Well, now seems like a good time to share that I’m getting married! We just put down the deposit on the venue and bought my dress lol.”
News Peg
The Republicans’ account on X made its own post about Talarico on Wednesday evening, saying, “Anyone worried about losing to this freak hasn’t been to Texas.” The account also responded to a tweet from Gov. Gavin Newsom, D-Calif., characterizing Trump as mentally unfit, saying “Your guy was a literal vegetable,” alongside a photo of Newsom and former President Joe Biden.
Key Background
Talarico has faced a wave of Republican attacks, which sharply intensified on social media after Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured the Texas GOP Senate nomination Tuesday, matching him up with Talarico in November’s midterms. Trump has called Talarico a “defective candidate” who “believes in six genders” and “is insulting to Jesus Christ.” The president has also falsely claimed Talarico is a vegan, a claim the Democratic nominee has denied. “I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment,” Talarico told CBS News. The Democratic X account also posted a picture Wednesday showing Talarico eating a piece of meat at a barbecue, which had 4 million impressions as of Wednesday evening. Paxton defeated Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, in the Senate Republican runoff after a last-minute Trump endorsement. Paxton, alongside other Republicans, have scrutinized Talarico’s faith over a comment he made in 2021 stating God was nonbinary. Talarico acknowledged the comment when speaking to CBS News, saying he made it to be “intentionally provocative” and claiming Paxton was “intentionally clipping my cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption.”
Further Reading
Ken Paxton Beats Sen. John Cornyn In Texas GOP Primary After Trump’s Last-Minute Endorsement (Forbes)