The Texas Democratic Senate primary just detonated — and the shrapnel is flying in every direction.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett is now openly accusing her primary opponent, state Rep. James Talarico, of calling former congressman Colin Allred a "mediocre Black man" in a private conversation — and she's not buying his denial. In an interview with The Grio, Crockett dismantled Talarico's response piece by piece, arguing that his own admissions about the conversation amount to a confession.

You admitted to the time. You admitted to the conversation. You admitted that the conversation took place with this person, and you admitted to actually using that word.

The allegation originated with Morgan Thompson, a social media influencer who says Talarico made the remark directly to her. Talarico's response? He called it a "mischaracterization of a private conversation." His campaign did not respond to Fox News Digital's request for comment.

That's a lot of confirming details for a mischaracterization.

The Defense That Isn't

Crockett — a criminal defense attorney by training — said she initially stuck with cautious language before Talarico responded. But his denial, she argued, unraveled itself.

As a political candidate, before my opponent responded, I absolutely stuck with the 'allegedly' type of language.

Then came what she sees as the tell. Talarico's statement acknowledged praising Crockett while describing Allred's "method of campaigning" as mediocre. His full statement read:

In my praise of Congresswoman Crockett, I described Congressman Allred's method of campaigning as mediocre, but his life and service are not. I would never attack him on the basis of race.

Crockett wasn't having it. She pointed to the internal logic of his own defense — why would praise of a "formidable Black woman" naturally lead to commentary about a Black man's race unless race was the framework all along?

Because why would you be saying that you didn't expect to run against a formidable Black woman and then the other part of that sentence was about not mentioning his race and only talking about his race, like his actual campaign? It's not how sentences go when you're doing a comparative side of the sentences.

She said a prosecutor looking at this set of facts would conclude Talarico was guilty. That's not a legal finding — it's a political one. But in a primary, political findings are the only kind that matter.

Allred Weighs In

According to Fox News, Colin Allred — the typically even-tempered former NFL player who dropped out of the Senate race — didn't stay quiet either. He responded with his own video, saying he didn't think Thompson had any reason to fabricate the story. Then he went further, claiming Talarico had told him privately that he'd be a better candidate because he doesn't have a family and could spend more time campaigning.

During a Tuesday podcast conversation with former DNC Chair Jaime Harrison, Allred delivered the sharpest line of the whole affair:

James, if you want to compliment Black women, just do it. Just do it. Don't do it while also tearing down a Black man.

That's two people now — Thompson and Allred — independently describing a pattern of privately dismissive remarks from Talarico. One is an allegation. Two starts to look like a character sketch.

The Real Story Democrats Don't Want to Tell

Here's what makes this genuinely interesting from the outside looking in: this is the Democratic Party's internal racial politics laid bare, and it's ugly.

Talarico — who is white — entered a Senate primary in Texas and immediately found himself at the center of accusations about how he talks about Black colleagues behind closed doors. He's a theologian, a self-styled progressive, exactly the kind of candidate who would lecture conservatives about racial sensitivity at a town hall. And yet, if Thompson's account is accurate, his private vocabulary tells a different story than his public brand.

Crockett connected this to something larger — and, frankly, something conservatives have pointed out for years:

I think it is what so many Black people fear — is that even the most 'well-intentioned White folk,' sometimes behind closed doors, may say things about us.

She added that this fear crosses political lines and extends to all minorities wondering how they're discussed when they leave the room.

This is the contradiction the Democratic coalition has never resolved. The party that claims a monopoly on racial empathy keeps producing moments that suggest the empathy is performative — a public-facing product that doesn't survive the transition to private conversation. Conservatives get called racist for enforcing immigration law. Meanwhile, a white Democratic state legislator allegedly calls a Black former congressman "mediocre" to an influencer's face, and his defense is that she misunderstood the sentence structure.

What Comes Next

The timeline here is revealing on its own. When Crockett officially declared her candidacy in December, Talarico released a video the very next day urging supporters to treat her with respect. By January, the two shook hands at a debate at the Texas AFL-CIO COPE Convention in Georgetown. Weeks later, the handshake looks like a relic from a different era.

Talarico now faces a primary opponent who is framing him not just as politically inferior, but as someone whose progressive credentials are a mask. Allred — no longer even in the race — is piling on from the sideline. And Thompson's original allegation sits at the center, unrefuted by anything stronger than "mischaracterization."

No audio. No transcript. No corroboration from Talarico's side — and notably, no vigorous denial beyond a carefully worded statement that concedes half the facts while contesting the other half.

Democrats love to tell conservatives that words matter, that private beliefs inevitably surface, that the real measure of a person is what they say when they think no one important is listening. For once, they're applying that standard to one of their own.

It remains to be seen whether they'll follow through — or whether "well-intentioned White folk" get a grace period that no Republican ever would.