Radical leftist Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) said race played a major role in her Democrat primary loss to Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico (D).
Crockett argued that racism, not politics, was the deciding factor in her Democrat primary loss to James Talarico.
“The reality is that there was a lot of races, not a lot, it was racist. It was a racist race. It is what it is, right? But we live in America as y’all are celebrating 250, okay? We know what this country is,” Crockett said.
Crockett rejected criticism that she should have spent more time campaigning alongside Talarico. Instead, she said her strategy was to help down-ballot candidates, pointing to five black men she endorsed in Texas runoff races who all advanced to the November election.
“The best thing that I can do for James Talarico isn’t me standing on a stage with him,” Crockett said. “It is the fact that I endorsed five candidates in the runoff who all happen to be black men in the state of Texas and every single one of them won.”
She pushed back on criticism that she should have campaigned more directly for Talarico, saying giving voters multiple candidates to support is a more effective strategy for boosting turnout.
“People keep trying to say, ‘Well, Jasmine has to go and hold his hand.’ No, I don’t,” she said. “If you can give people more than one thing to vote for, then you have a better chance of getting them out to the polls.”
Talarico defeated Crockett in Texas’s Democrat primary for the U.S. Senate in March, overcoming weeks of polling that had shown her with a sizable lead in the race to challenge Republican Sen. John Cornyn in November.
Crockett previously said she does not believe black voters have fully united behind Talarico’s Senate campaign and confirmed she will skip next week’s Texas Democrat Party convention.
She said she has not seen broad enthusiasm for Talarico or the rest of the party’s statewide candidates, adding that many voters remain unconvinced despite several months remaining before the November election.
“I’ve not heard a bunch of kumbaya,” Crockett said. “People don’t seem to be convinced at this point, but there’s a lot of time between now and November.”
Asked whether she plans to campaign for Talarico, Crockett explained that her focus is on down-ballot races rather than his Senate bid.
“I have no idea. I am more focused on down-ballot races in general,” she said.