It all started when content creator Morgan Thompson posted online about the already-tense Democratic race for U.S. Senate in Texas.
In a TikTok video, Thompson alleged that Senate candidate and state House Rep. James Talarico told her in a one-on-one conversation he signed up to run against a “mediocre black man,” not a “formidable, intelligent black woman.”
The alleged comments by Talarico referred to former U.S. Rep. Colin Allred, who dropped out of the U.S. Senate race in December, and Talarico’s current primary competitor, Congresswoman Jasmine Crockett. It made significant waves on social media as commentators and politicians alike rushed to voice skepticism of the claims’ validity. For others, it reignited intense debates online about identity politics and electability.
Talarico’s campaign released a statement on Monday calling Thompson’s claims “a mischaracterization of a private conversation.”
“I described Congressman Allred’s method of campaigning as mediocre — but his life and service are not,” he explained. Thompson, who spoke to CNN, said that she didn’t have a recording of the conversation and acknowledged that they had previously agreed to treat it as off the record.
News organizations largely avoided covering the unsubstantiated claims. That is, until Allred — who is running for his old congressional seat — posted a video online thrusting them into newsworthiness.
“We’re tired of folks using praise for Black women to mask criticism for Black men,” he said.
Allred then turned the alleged “mediocre” claim on Talarico.
“Maybe you used the word mediocre because there was something creeping into your mind about yourself,” Allred said.
Despite not previously endorsing a Democratic candidate, Allred finished the video by telling viewers to vote for Crockett, and calling out to Talarico: “Don’t come for me unless I send for you.”
As Allred freshly endorsed Crockett, the whole event appeared to spur — or at least make more timely — another fresh endorsement. The Houston Chronicle, the largest newspaper in the state, on Tuesday endorsed Talarico with a striking headline that once again waded into the conversation of electability: “Do you want to win or not? Democrats should make Talarico their Senate candidate.” (A week earlier, another Hearst-owned property, The San Antonio Express-News, had endorsed Crockett.)
But let’s go back to the beginning. What exactly was Thompson alleging that started this whole thing off?
In her video, Thompson said she approached Talarico at a Jan. 12 event in Plano with concerns about Democratic campaign consultant James Carville sending messages for Talarico. Carville’s November 2025 guest essay in The New York Times advocated for Democrats to leave behind “woke politics,” which Thompson said would leave Black people out of the conversation.
During the conversation about Talarico’s campaign strategy, Thompson said he made the comments comparing Allred and Crockett as opponents. Thompson expressed her support for Crockett at the end of the video, saying she had previously supported Talarico — until that private conversation.
Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis confirmed to CNN both their association with Thompson and that the two did speak before the Plano event.
“The obvious intimidation of Jasmine Crockett along with the racially charged disrespect of a Black man indicates something deeper than just an overly familiar comment that is coded in a compliment for a Black woman,” Thompson said in her video.
Then the stakes rose again, with Thompson accusing Talarico’s campaign of trying to silence her, claiming that her Instagram account had disappeared and her Threads account had been suspended within minutes of when she posted a video about her claims. She told CNN, “It’s just too many factors in play. It’s just too many abnormalities. The timing of it was so fast.”
It was not clear on Tuesday how the campaign could have obtained access to her accounts, and Ennis unequivocally denied those allegations, telling CNN, “No. We do not have that kind of power, nor would we ever do that.”
Factions quickly formed online, with some ripping Thompson’s allegations as “conspiratorial,” while others defended her as acting in good faith.
Ali Zaidi, a former Texas House staffer for Talarico, called the allegation “out of the norm for who Rep. Talarico is” — “both in substance and in form.”
“The growing deluge of odd, conspiratorial, and untrue content surrounding (Talarico) is frankly bizarre,” Zaidi said on social media. “Disappointing that some believe this is how a primary ought to be conducted.”
Peter Rothpletz, a columnist and contributor for Zeteo, wrote on X, “yo @ColinAllredTX the random tiktoker whose unverified story you bought hook, line, and sinker is now claiming the GLOBAL CABAL that is team Talarico hacked and deleted her instagram account. thank you for pouring gasoline on this fucking dumpster fire of a primary!!!!!!!!”
Then, Jasmine Crockett weighed in Monday afternoon with a statement in support of Allred, saying “it’s unfortunate that at the start of Black History Month, this is what we’re facing.”
Although Crockett’s statement did not directly address Talarico’s alleged comments, she spoke to Allred’s previous political accomplishments and applauded his discussion of the double standard Black politicians face.
“He drew a line in the sand,” Crockett wrote of Allred’s video. “He decided to stand for all people who have been targeted and talked about in a demeaning way as our country continues to be divided.”
In Talarico’s statement Monday evening, he said he “would never” attack Allred “on the basis of race.”
Then, in an interview with CNN, Allred claimed he believed Talarico’s statement was “an admission that he said what he said.”
Kat Vargas, the political content creator known as Howdy Politics who has defended Thompson in recent days, agreed, writing on Threads that Talarico’s statement does not deny the claim that he called Allred mediocre.
“This is a statement about impact vs intent, not a denial, and based on the racial undertones of this campaign, that’s a serious conversation we need to have,” Vargas wrote.
The back and forth left journalists, political strategists, and content creators slamming one another on social media and in comment sections.
“Texas Democrats should be riding off the high after flipping that Texas state senate seat in Tarrant County,” Eric Garcia, a journalist for The Independent, wrote on X. “Instead, they are mired in a petty squabble thanks to a random TikTok video accusing Talarico of calling Allred a ‘mediocre Black man’ without any sourcing.”
Thompson took to TikTok in a follow-up video to give more details about their conversation, displaying a photo of her and Talarico as well as screenshots of messages between her and a Talarico staffer coordinating the conversation.
“I quite literally have everything but an actual recording of him saying this,” Thompson said of their exchange.
Whatever else comes of this, the rift between campaigns and content creators has widened.
The Mothers Against Greg Abbott PAC posted on Threads, “If there is anything to be learned from yesterday, it is this: Candidates, when you work with influencers, you need to make them sign NDA’s and record your conversations. There is no such thing as off the record with them. They will stab you in the back! If you don’t want to pay them 15K per month, if you wrong them, oh, there will be hell to pay! The pile-up is called Mob violence, and we saw this yesterday.”
Recent public polling from mid-January, as Texas Tribune reported, put Crockett and Talarico in a dead heat ahead of the March 3 primary. Early voting begins on February 17.