Jul 23, 2026
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Add us on GoogleA 2025 clip of James Talarico, the Democratic Texas state representative who is the party’s nominee for the 2026 Texas senate contest, has gone viral and shined a new spotlight on the growing tensions between billionaires and the working class.
“The only minority destroying America is the billionaires,” Talarico says in the video, which was originally posted by the candidate himself on July 30, 2025 on Instagram. “Trans people are 1% of the population. Muslims are 1% of the population. Undocumented people are 1% of the population. We are focused on the wrong 1%.”
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Talarico has emerged as one of the most talked-about political candidates in the 2026 midterm elections. That received a boost when Stephen Colbert was forced by network executives to pull an interview with Talarico over fears it would violate “equal time” rules. (That interview was later posted online).
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While his comments are earning praise from supporters and liberals, Talarico has earned the support of some billionaires. LinkedIn co-founder and billionaire Reid Hoffman last month donated $10 million to a super PAC backing Talarico. Other billionaire donors who have financially backed the campaign via PACs include philanthropist Simone Coxe and Lone Pine Capital founder Stephen Mandel.
Talarico has vowed not to accept any corporate PAC money and backed a ban on super PACs. His campaign has boasted that 97% of the donations it has received have been $100 or less. (PACs, however, operate independent of a candidate and don’t need to be accepted by them to offer benefits to their campaign.)
A widening gap
Some of the growing resentment towards billionaires has been pinned on the fast-increasing wealth of the ruling class. Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, has seen his net worth jump from $373 billion a year ago to $745 billion today — and he was, for a short period, the world’s first trillionaire. Google co-founder Larry Page, the world’s second richest person according to Bloomberg, has gained $120 billion in the past year.
The median net worth per adult, meanwhile, dropped significantly from 2020 to 2025, according to a UBS study. While the average wealth of Americans has climbed nearly 10% since 2020, median wealth (the point between the richest and poorest people) has fallen by nearly 20%. The U.S. median wealth ranked 28th worldwide in that study, fueling arguments that the rich continue to get richer and benefit more from the stock market than others, who are seeing their wealth shrink due to inflation and stagnating wages.
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The fight for the Senate
Talarico is polling with a very slight edge over his Republican opponent, state Attorney General Ken Paxton.
He defeated U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the primaries, but has since struggled to win over some Black voters in the state, who are seen as essential to a victory in the district.
The anti-billionaire rallying cry has been a key part of his campaign since he became the Democratic candidate.
“We already know who we’re running against: The billionaire mega-donors and their corrupt political system,” Talarico said in his primary night victory speech in March.
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Chris Morris is a veteran journalist with more than 35 years of experience at many of the internet's biggest news outlets. In addition to his activities as a writer, reporter and editor, Chris is also a frequent panel moderator and speaker at major conferences, including CES and South by Southwest.
