Republican National Committee chairman Joe Gruters dismissed Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico's efforts to attract Republican crossover voters, calling the strategy a "pipe dream" and comparing it to the "White Dudes for Kamala" campaign from the 2024 presidential race. Talarico is seeking to win over GOP-leaning voters in November as he tries to flip the heavily Republican state of Texas, a state Gruters insisted would remain "ruby red" and rally behind Republican rival Ken Paxton instead.

Gruters told Fox News Digital that those expressing support for Talarico's outreach are, in his view, actually Democrats rather than genuine Republican converts, arguing "nobody is going to follow him" across party lines. The comments came amid a wider slate of Fox News political coverage referencing Paxton highlighting Talarico's "progressive agenda" and voter fraud claims, as the Texas Senate race shapes up as a key contest ahead of the midterms.