Senate candidate James Talarico, D-Texas, has been facing an intense online firestorm after a resurfaced video showed him calling on Texans to ditch meat to fight climate change.

Republicans and conservative influencers have widely panned the remark as a potentially fatal blow to his Senate bid and suggested his anti-meat stance could dog him on the campaign trail. 

“Democrats are trying to fool Texans into believing James Talarico isn’t some whacked out lib, but the clips keep coming,” Andrew Kolvet, Turning Point USA spokesman, wrote on X. “In 2022, Talarico, wearing a mask, scolded Texans about going meat-free (!!) to stop climate change. This is TEXAS. This will haunt him in the general.”

“That just isn’t poor taste, it’s political poison,” Lawrence Jones said on “The Will Cain Show” on Thursday.

Talarico, a three-term state legislator and self-described Presbyterian seminarian, is seeking to unseat Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who is facing an insurgent primary challenge from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. Talarico defeated Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, in a primary battle earlier this month.

TALARICO REPORTEDLY KNEW COLBERT INTERVIEW WOULDN’T AIR ON TV BEFORE HE LEFT TO FILM IT

Talarico’s anti-meat remarks stem from a speech he delivered in April 2022 to the Texas Humane Legislation Network, during which he said his re-election bid was a “non-meat” campaign.

“We have, I think, heard more and more issues of animal welfare,” Talarico said while wearing a mask. “I think, not just because it’s the right thing to do and the moral thing to do, but also, it’s, as all of you know, necessary to fight climate change. It is now existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to respect animals in all aspects of society.”

“So, I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign,” Talarico continued. “So, we are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses.”

Amid the backlash, the Talarico campaign blasted out a photo of the candidate wearing a Texas flag shirt and taking a large bite out of a turkey leg.

“Official Statement from James Talarico on Vegan Accusations,” the campaign wrote.

‘OPEN BORDERS TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’: GOP UNLEASHES EARLY BLITZ ON TEXAS DEMOCRAT TALARICO

Still, the hits against Talarico from Republicans over his anti-meat stance keep coming. 

“Who wants to tell him that cattle is the #1 commodity in Texas?” the National Republican Senatorial Committee, Senate Republicans’ campaign arm, wrote on X.

“Vote Republican this November. The steaks couldn’t be higher,” Cornyn wrote in response to the viral clip. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also labeled Talarico a “freak” who wants to “ban BBQ.”

Fox News Digital reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment.

Republicans have also spotlighted Talarico’s past remarks when discussing religion and transgender issues.

In 2021, he claimed “God is non-binary” when debating a bill to ban men from women’s sports on the Texas House floor. Talarico doubled down on that statement during an interview with The Bulwark on Thursday, arguing it was “provocative” but theologically correct.

In an interview with an Austin-based Fox affiliate in 2021, Talarico called concern over biological males in women’s sports a part of “far-right conspiracy theories.” 

In 2023, when Talarico was asked on the “A Superbloom Podcast” about “something that you love, other than family and friends,” the candidate discussed “trans children.”

Though Democrats have not won a Senate seat in Texas since the 1980s, Talarico is arguing that he is well-positioned to end that trend. His campaign published an internal poll on Friday showing him leading Cornyn and Paxton in head-to-head match-ups. 

As the rift between Prince William and Prince Harry deepens, a resurfaced account claims Princess Diana once quietly prepared her younger son for the possibility of becoming king.

Veteran royal writer Richard Kay, a close confidant of the late Princess of Wales, revealed on the Daily Mail’s “Palace Confidential” podcast that Diana believed William was already aware of his destiny, yet remained “shy” and quietly uneasy about the future awaiting him.

“I think William has been a bit of a surprise,” said Kay. “He was a shy young man. Certainly, when his mother was still alive, she would tell me that she never really thought that William wanted the ‘top job,’ as she called it. The idea that he would one day wear the crown.”

PRINCE WILLIAM HONORS PRINCESS DIANA WITH NEVER-BEFORE-SEEN CHILDHOOD PHOTO ON UK MOTHER’S DAY TRIBUTE

“She, in her mind, was preparing the way for the possibility that it would be Harry who succeeded his father,” he claimed. “And she had a little nickname for Harry: she used to call him ‘Good King Harry’ — a throwback to medieval days. And, of course, things haven’t worked out that way.”

Several royal experts who spoke to Fox News Digital pushed back on the claim, arguing that Diana always knew who would be king — and it wasn’t Harry.

“Prince William didn’t come out of the gate campaigning for the crown,” Kinsey Schofield, host of “Kinsey Schofield Unfiltered,” told Fox News Digital. 

WATCH: PRINCE WILLIAM STILL HAUNTED BY PRINCESS DIANA’S TELL-ALL: AUTHOR

“He matured into it. That trajectory aligns well with the modern monarchy, which values duty over ambition. It positions him as thoughtful, measured, and crucially not entitled. In contrast, those who clamor for relevance tend to reveal exactly why they were never suited for the top job in the first place.”

“This reads less like prophetic insight and more like a mother managing two very different little boys,” Schofield shared. 

“Diana was very sensitive to Harry feeling second best, so floating the idea of ‘Good King Harry’ feels like emotional equalization, not constitutional foresight. Prince William was always the introspective one, burdened early by the weight of expectation. Diana didn’t predict destiny so much as she tried to soften it.”

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR THE ENTERTAINMENT NEWSLETTER

“The monarchy has never been uncertain about succession, only about sentiment,” Schofield continued. “Diana understood the emotional cost of the role better than most, and she saw that William felt it deeply. Questioning whether he wanted it wasn’t doubting the institution; it was acknowledging that the job comes with a psychological price tag. That’s maternal realism, not constitutional anxiety.”

Kay noted that, similarly, people used to speculate whether Princess Margaret would be better suited for the role of monarch than her sister, Princess Elizabeth.

“I think the consensus is ‘we got the right one,’ and I think we got the right one,” he said. “We’ve got the right one in William as Prince of Wales. He seems to have grown into the role. As observers, we probably all agreed that he seemed a bit reticent, a bit reluctant, a bit shy. But he’s really grown into it.”

“What I quite like about what I’ve seen of him … is that he is coming up with some quite different ways to approach royalty,” said Kay. “I think he recognizes that some aspects of monarchy … don’t resonate well with the modern public. And I think he’s aware that he’s going to have to make some big changes to ensure its survival.”

Before William accepted his royal fate, he wanted a badge, not a crown, British broadcaster and photographer Helena Chard told Fox News Digital. The heir’s childhood dream reportedly sparked a reaction from his brother.

“As a young child, William expressed disinterest in being king,” said Chard. “Instead, he wanted to become a police officer to protect his mother from press intrusion. In fact, like many children, he was obsessed with becoming a police officer, something William had passed on to his son, George.”

LIKE WHAT YOU’RE READING? CLICK HERE FOR MORE ENTERTAINMENT NEWS

“Harry couldn’t believe his ears, deciding he would jump into his brother’s shoes and become king,” said Chard. “Princess Diana reassured Harry, nicknaming him ‘Good King Harry’ to comfort him, aware he needed extra love and validation.”

Schofield pointed out that in the later years, Diana made it known who would be king someday.

“Let’s be clear, in the BBC ‘Panorama’ interview, she never once suggested Prince Harry as future king,” she said. “In her own words, if the line of succession were ever to skip anyone, she pointed directly past then-Prince Charles to Prince William. That isn’t ambiguity. It’s conviction. She knew exactly who she believed should wear the crown. It was her firstborn son.”

“Diana was always concerned about Harry’s future role in life, as William was always given special privileges,” chimed in royal expert Ian Pelham Turner.

“Giving Harry personal grooming may have been her way of redressing the balance. I believe William has every desire to become king. … Harry has shown strength in leadership both in the army and in protecting his family abroad.”

The royal experts agreed that rivalry between the brothers was inevitable. Diana recognized that early on and urged them to stay close despite the vastly different paths that would ultimately pull them apart.

“We always thought the brothers were close, but Harry’s ill-advised memoir ‘Spare’ clearly showed he was jealous of his brother, whose future was clearly mapped out, whereas his was not,” said royal expert Richard Fitzwilliams.

“Harry may still be fifth in line to the throne, but he is not a working member of the royal family, from whom he is currently estranged.”

“William may have once been shy, but as his future role draws ever closer, he has been successful with his careful balance of activities. He is concentrating on several specific charities, has diplomatic skills, prioritizes his family, and uses his unique profile as future head of the world’s most high-profile monarchy both nationally and internationally very skillfully.”

Diana passed away in 1997 from injuries she sustained in a Paris car crash. She was 36. Harry and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped back as senior royals in 2020 and moved to California. William and Harry last reunited in August 2024 at the memorial for their uncle, Lord Robert Fellowes. The brothers are said to not be on speaking terms.

Frantic air traffic control audio has been released revealing the moment of the crash that left two pilots dead and at least 42 injured after striking a fire truck Sunday at New York’s LaGuardia airport.

In the moments before the crash, an air traffic controller could be heard on a radio transmission discussing the request for the emergency vehicle to cross part of the tarmac, then trying to stop it.

“Stop, Truck 1. Stop,” the transmission says, which can be heard repeatedly.

The controller can then be heard frantically diverting an incoming aircraft from landing.

FEDS INVESTIGATE ALARMING NEAR-MISS BETWEEN ALASKA AIRLINES JET, FEDEX PLANE AT BUSY NEWARK AIRPORT

The pilot and copilot were killed in the collision, which crushed the nose of the aircraft, while 39 passengers and crew members were taken to area hospitals, some with serious injuries. Most have since been released from treatment, authorities said Monday.

Two Port Authority employees who were traveling in the fire truck also suffered injuries that were not believed to be life-threatening, said Kathryn Garcia, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which operates the airport.

The pilot and copilot were both based out of Canada, Garcia said during a news conference early Monday.

The airport will remain closed until at least 2 p.m. Monday to facilitate the investigation, which is being led by the National Transportation Safety Board.

There were 72 passengers and four crew members aboard the aircraft, a Jazz Aviation flight operating on behalf of Air Canada, according to a statement from the airline. The flight originated at Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, the major airport serving Montreal.

Photos and videos from the scene showed severe damage to the front of the aircraft, with cables and debris hanging from a mangled cockpit. Nearby, a damaged emergency vehicle lay on its side.

Stairways used to evacuate passengers from the aircraft were pushed up to the emergency exits on the jet, a Bombardier CRJ. The impact left the jet with its crumpled nose tilted upward.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.