Texas voters were understandably alarmed after receiving political text messages that opened with the startling question, “Are you white?” before attacking Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. The messages make a provocative claim about something Talarico previously said, but leave out a key word that significantly changes the context of his original remarks.
According to NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth, several viewers contacted the outlet after receiving the unusual messages, which went on to claim Talarico had called white men “America’s top terror threat.” However, the texts omit a key word from his actual remarks. Talarico had said that “radicalized white men” were the greatest domestic terrorist threat in the country following a mass shooting. The messages then direct recipients to an attack website paid for by an outside political group.
The website promoted in the messages was traced to the American Political Action Committee, or AMERIPAC, an outside political group based in Washington state. Federal Election Commission records show the group has been registered since 1980, while its website identifies longtime conservative activist Alan Gottlieb as its founder. The outlet contacted Gottlieb and the group’s treasurer for comment but had not received a response.
Importantly, Talarico made the original remark while discussing domestic terrorism following a mass shooting, and there is broader federal context behind his comments. A Department of Homeland Security assessment released during President Donald Trump’s first administration identified white supremacist extremists as among the most persistent and lethal domestic violent extremist threats in the United States. That context is absent from the political messages now landing on Texans’ phones.
Unsurprisingly, the unusual messages have also caught the attention of Texans online, with several people saying they had received the same text. While some questioned the way Talarico’s remarks were presented, others were simply baffled by a political message opening with such a blunt question about their race.
Texas Voters React to ‘Are You White?’ Political Texts
Several Texans confirmed receiving the messages themselves, with one person saying the texts had arrived more than once. “Yeah, I’ve gotten several. They’re so desperate they’ve resorted to white replacement scare tactics. It makes my skin crawl,” they wrote. Another recipient described the message as “the most unsettling republican text I’ve been getting which is saying a lot,” adding that they were “definitely not clicking the link in those.”
Others pointed out that the apparent targeting did not always make much sense. “The irony is when they send those to non-white people. My wife is 0% white and gets these,” one person wrote. Another commenter with a Vietnamese name similarly questioned how recipients were being selected, writing, “Just on context clues should have disqualified me from the campaign. Makes me wonder what list they are using.”
Some Texans responded to the messages with humor while making their own political preferences clear. “I’m whiter than a polka band in a blizzard, I’ll be voting for James Talarico,” one commenter joked. Another kept things even simpler: “Am I White? Yes. Am I voting for Talarico? Also yes.”
Ultimately, political attack ads are nothing new, but opening a message with “Are you white?” has caught the attention of Texans receiving these texts. More importantly, the omission of a single word from Talarico’s original remarks shows how much context can matter when political messages are condensed into attention-grabbing claims. With the Texas Senate race continuing to heat up, voters may want to look beyond the texts landing on their phones before taking any campaign message at face value.
