Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico’s campaign is pushing back after a 2020 video resurfaced showing him challenging why defunding police was treated as off limits in political debate, as reported by Fox News.

The footage renewed scrutiny of statements he made as protests and a national debate over policing followed the death of George Floyd.

Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis denied that the candidate ever backed the movement.

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“James did not call for and does not support defunding the police, and he strongly supports Texas law enforcement and first responders."

Ennis said critics took Talarico’s remarks out of context after they resurfaced Monday. Talarico made the comments during a virtual discussion with Texas Rising, a progressive youth activist group, in 2020.

“As an educator, it's always rich to me that 'defund the police' is considered off-limits in our political debate, when defunding health services , defunding public education has been the stated policy of our state government for decades now,” Talarico said during the discussion.

Talarico delivered a similar argument in a separate September 2020 interview with the local publication Honest Austin. CNN reported that he was asked directly about the movement to defund police.

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“Our system of policing is deeply broken. We must replace it with something new and something better,” Talarico said. He then questioned whether armed officers were necessary for every emergency.

During the Texas Rising discussion, Talarico acknowledged that the slogan was getting people “all riled up” in his community.

He argued, however, that voters were receptive when asked whether armed officers should respond to minor traffic accidents or mental health crises.

His campaign insisted that those remarks did not amount to an endorsement of the movement.

Instead, the campaign said Talarico was highlighting what it described as hypocrisy among politicians who condemn that slogan while supporting cuts to other public services.

The campaign said Talarico believes essential government services, including law enforcement, should receive adequate funding.

Ennis also cited Talarico’s legislative record and said he voted to direct billions of dollars to local law enforcement.

Ennis said Talarico has also advocated for additional mental health resources so police officers would not have to handle emergencies that counselors could address.

The campaign presented those positions as evidence against accusations that Talarico supported defunding police.

“That's why James has voted to send billions of dollars to local law enforcement, in addition to advocating for better-funded mental health resources so that cops don't have to respond to mental health emergencies that could be handled by a counselor,” Ennis said.

Ennis also accused Talarico’s Senate rival, GOP Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, and Paxton’s allies of “lying about James' comments.”

He said they were attempting to distract from what he characterized as Paxton’s record on crime.

The campaign specifically pointed to a plea agreement involving a sex offender that it previously attacked as an “Epstein-style sweetheart deal.”

The criticism concerned Paxton’s office and its handling of the case against former Waco attorney Adam Dean Hoffman, who was charged with sexual abuse of a minor.

Hoffman’s 2025 trial ended in a mistrial after jurors failed to reach a unanimous verdict. The child victim did not want to testify during a second trial, according to the account previously reported by Fox News Digital.

Prosecutors from Paxton’s office later negotiated an agreement allowing Hoffman to plead guilty to misdemeanor indecent assault and displaying harmful material to a minor. Hoffman received a sentence of 60 days in jail.

Hoffman was released after 29 days and was not required to register as a sex offender, Fox News Digital previously reported. Talarico’s campaign raised the case while defending its candidate against the renewed scrutiny of his own policing comments.

The dispute places Talarico’s 2020 language back under the microscope as he competes against Paxton for the Senate.

His campaign maintains that his remarks concerned funding priorities and police responsibilities, even as the resurfaced statements declare that the policing system was “deeply broken” and must be replaced.

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