Talarico, a Texas state lawmaker, is tied in recent polling with Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton in the race to be the state's next U.S. senator. Despite a history of controversial statements, including calling God nonbinary and claiming there are six genders, Talarico has recently positioned himself as a moderate, pro-police candidate. However, critics are calling his pro-police stance into question after they say the resurfaced video destroys that narrative. During the Zoom call, however, Talarico asserted that for Abbott to "complain about local communities not funding public safety is hypocritical." Madison Cercy, a spokesperson for Paxton's campaign, said that "James Talarico has the most consistently anti-law enforcement record in the Texas Legislature.