Friday, Jul 24, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ ↗
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POLITICS

The Claim

Jesse Watters referred to James Talarico as a "gay vegan" while also stating that James Talarico is not gay and not vegan.

Verified by Lenz ·

The Short Version

Available reporting and a contemporaneous clip show Watters did both. In a segment about James Talarico, he used the phrase “gay vegan” and then immediately said Talarico was “not gay and not vegan, for the record.” The evidence is consistent across multiple reputable outlets.

Caveats

  • The phrase appears to have been used as a mocking punchline, not as a serious factual description.
  • Some lower-quality commentary sources exist in the evidence pool, but the conclusion does not depend on them.
  • The claim is about what Watters said on air, not about Talarico’s actual sexuality or diet.

The Receipts

  1. What it means to be a man is a theme in Texas Senate race as Paxton attacks Talarico

    NPR

  2. Weird, vegan, and effeminate: right-wing media are attacking James Talarico based on lies

    Media Matters for America

  3. James Talarico Faces 'Secretly Gay' Smear Amid Girlfriend Reveal

    PinkNews

  4. What it means to be a man is a theme in Texas Senate race as Paxton attacks Talarico

    NHPR

  5. Why Republicans Keep Talking About James Talarico's ...

    Time

  6. Jesse Watters Snidely Attacks James Talarico's 'Totally-Not-Fake Girlfriend'

    HuffPost

  7. James Talarico Faces 'Secretly Gay' Smear Amid Girlfriend Reveal

    The Independent

  8. Jesse Watters Mocks James Talarico’s ‘Totally Not Fake Girlfriend’: ‘Does She Exist?’

    YouTube

  9. Jesse Watters' Mockery Of James Talarico Blows Up In His Face: 'Didn't You Have An Affair...'

    HuffPost

  10. Why Republicans are questioning the masculinity of James ...

    CBC

+ 10 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Fox NewsJames TalaricoJesse Watters

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