A breakfast taco order by Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico proved the adage that “everything’s bigger in Texas” when mockery by Gov. Greg Abbott sparked a massive online backlash across the Lone Star State and beyond.
Talarico was campaigning with former President Barack Obama and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa at the Taco Joint restaurant in Austin on Tuesday afternoon when they approached the counter.
Obama ordered grilled sirloin tacos while Hinojosa opted for pulled chicken stewed in mole sauce, the Austin American-Statesman reported.
But when it was Talarico’s turn, the cashier told him, “I think I know your order,” at which point they both said, “Potato, egg and cheese.”
“I come here a lot,” Talarico told Obama, who responded, “I can see that,” according to The New York Times.
In a state that’s the nation’s largest producer of cattle — 11.8 million, according to Texas A&M University — Abbott, who’s seeking a record fourth term, was quick to pounce.
“Potato egg and cheese? Homie is not beating the vegetarian allegations,” he said Wednesday on his campaign’s X account.
Some online commenters agreed, with one likening Talarico’s order to “white bread with mayo,” according to a Thursday follow-up report in The New York Times.
But the scores of replies to Abbott’s X post were almost universally opposed to his criticism, with one user saying, “That is LITERALLY the quintessential breakfast taco. You making fun shows you’re not of the people.”
Others said, “There’s still time to delete this. Texans know potato, egg and cheese is a proper breakfast taco,” and “My Texan mother made us potato, egg and chess tacos before every road trip and we’d eat them along the way. Do you even know anything about the state?”
Abbott also came under fire on Reddit, where a lengthy thread in r/TexasPolitics included a large number of pro-Talarico comments like, “As a lifelong Texan who had a potato egg and cheese breakfast taco this morning, that’s my guy right there!”
Another user said, “Seriously it says more about how out of touch Abbott is than anything about Talarico” and several compared Abbott’s remark to earlier Republican criticism of Obama for wearing a tan suit in the White House while president in 2014.
The controversy came nearly four years after then-first lady Jill Biden apologized for calling the Latino community in San Antonio, Texas, “as unique as the breakfast tacos” there during a speech to the Latino civil rights group UnidosUS.
It also sparked the latest firestorm over a politician’s dining choices, including then-New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio eating pizza with a fork and knife in 2014 and opining on the Big Apple’s “BEST bagel” in 2020, then-Texas Gov. Rick Perry shoving a vegetarian corn dog into his mouth at the Iowa State Fair in 2011 and then-President Gerald Ford biting into a tamale without removing the corn husk at San Antonio landmark the Alamo in 1976.
The latest poll about the Senate race in Texas, conducted by the University of Texas last month, showed Talarico with an 8-point lead over Republican state Attorney General Ken Paxton, front-runner in the May 26 Republican primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn.
That poll also gave Talarico a 7-point edge against Cornyn, who’s twice faced online criticism over his favorite recipe for brisket.
