ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel continued his efforts to get himself appointed president of the James Talarico Fan Club on Monday as the alleged funny man claimed Republicans “have nothing to hit the guy with.”
Kimmel began by claiming President Trump and Republicans are terrified of Talarico, “He is shaking in his boots in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico is up six points over Trump's poorly hand-picked candidate Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton refuses to debate James Talarico. And I don't blame him for being scared. James Talarico is one of the strongest candidates we've seen in a long time.”
Talarico may have said that God is non-binary, that there are six sexes, and there may be compelling evidence that all of his campaign conversions to sound more moderate are not genuine, but ABC’s comedian confessed he doesn’t find anything funny about him, “They have nothing to hit the guy with. So, they're back to this dumb lie claiming he's a vegan. Or as Trump pronounces it, ‘Vay-gun.’”
Jimmy Kimmel gushes over James Talarico, calling him "one of the strongest candidates we've seen in a long time" and falsely claims "They have nothing to hit the guy with" before playing a clip of Trump suggesting all Republicans have is the vegan allegation pic.twitter.com/jB9bh0E4br
— Alex Christy (@alexchristy17) October 6, 2026
Trump was then shown in a clip declaring, “He’s a vegan. He wears a mask. He was wearing a mask three or four months ago before. Anybody wearing a mask in Texas four months ago, I don't think he's going to be too good. No, but he is a vegan, and all of the sudden he is going to barbecues. But what they don't show you is after every barbecue, he walks to the back of the tent and he throws up all over the place. He is not going to be eating meat long. He likes lettuce.”
Much like the gender wackiness, the vegan allegation has its roots in the pre-campaign version of Talarico. Back in 2022, Talarico suggested people need to stop eating meat in order to fight climate change.
Nevertheless, Kimmel was still fixated on Trump’s “vegan” pronunciation, “Cause he's a vay-gun! I mean, this man has a team of a hundred people around him at all times. Not one of them pulls him aside and says, ‘Hey, just FYI, it's pronounced vegan. It’s not vay-gun. You sound stupid.’”
James Talarico should be a comedy gold mine. He has a history of outrageous and even goofy beliefs that he now expects people to believe he has now abandoned. Yet, Kimmel can’t find the gold because he is an activist first and a comedian second.
Here is a transcript for the October 5 show:
ABC Jimmy Kimmel Live!
10/5/2026
11:41 PM ET
JIMMY KIMMEL: He is shaking in his boots in Texas, where Democrat James Talarico is up six points over Trump's poorly hand-picked candidate Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton refuses to debate James Talarico. And I don't blame him for being scared. James Talarico is one of the strongest candidates we've seen in a long time. They have nothing to hit the guy with. So, they're back to this dumb lie claiming he's a vegan. Or as Trump pronounces it, "Vay-gun."
DONALD TRUMP: He’s a vegan. He wears a mask. He was wearing a mask three or four months ago before. Anybody wearing a mask in Texas four months ago, I don't think he's going to be too good. No, but he is a vegan, and all of the sudden he is going to barbecues. But what they don't show you is after every barbecue, he walks to the back of the tent and he throws up all over the place. He is not going to be eating meat long. He likes lettuce.
KIMMEL: Cause he's a vay-gun! I mean, this man has a team of a hundred people around him at all times. Not one of them pulls him aside and says, "Hey, just FYI, it's pronounced vegan. It’s not vay-gun. You sound stupid.”
