Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who’s running for reelection, alleged on social media Monday that “antifa merchandise” was distributed at a recent campaign rally for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.
In the Facebook post — which doesn’t provide details about his claims, a link to a news source or any evidence — Patrick claimed that Talarico, an Austin-area state rep, is “too radical” for Texas.
“Merchandise promoting the left-wing terror group Antifa was given out for free at a James Talarico rally,” Patrick said in his post. “He is too radical for Texas.”
While Patrick’s post did not provide any context for his claim, a community note led to a tweet by Tony Ortiz, founder and publisher of Texas-based conservative Substack Current Revolt. Ortiz posted photos from the Killeen rally in question, with arrows to buttons that said things like “Auntifa” and “Anti-fascist social club.”
The photos appear to depict a table manned by Beto O’Rourke’s voter turnout organization Powered by People, which Ortiz claims was handing out the buttons for free.
Other buttons on display that said “It’s OK to punch Nazis” didn’t seem to elicit the same outcry from Ortiz or Patrick.
Contrary to what Patrick’s post might indicate, he’s not running against Talarico.
The lieutenant governor has his own tight race against Vikki Goodwin to worry about. His tactic of posting about Talarico mirrors that of fellow Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, who’s frequently taken shots at the Democratic Senate hopeful instead of running against his actual opponent, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa.
As with Goodwin and Patrick, Hinojosa and Abbott are polling neck-and-neck.
Facebook users trolled Patrick on his post, sharing comments such as “Is the antifa in the room with us right now?” and “my uncles (USN Pacific Theater) and father (US Army stateside) were antifa in WWII.” Another commenter appeared to feign innocence when he asked, “What is ‘antifa’ an abbreviation for?”
Antifa, shorthand for anti-fascist, is not an organization — or, as Patrick characterizes it, a “left-wing terror group” — but an ideology.
Furthermore, Talarico has never expressed his support for the movement. His rhetoric, however, is anti-fascist.
Since when is that a bad thing, Dan?
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