At least one Republican congressman is wondering if Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico still plays with the Dr. Anthony Fauci doll he received on Christmas Day 2021.
The candidate was excited at the gift he received less than five years ago.
"I got the coolest action figure for Christmas!" Talarico wrote on social media at the time. "Thank you to all the health care superheroes working today. Let’s help by getting vaxxed and boosted!"
Now, his words are coming back to haunt him given the chaos of Fauci’s Senate hearing Wednesday.
"Do you think James Talarico still plays with his Fauci action figure?" Rep. Brandon Gill (R-Texas), wrote Wednesday.
Republicans have tried to portray Talarico as effeminate so as to harm his image among Texas voters.
His opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, branded him as "too low-T for Texas.” An AI ad produced by a conservative group portrayed Talarico prancing around in a dress.
"It comes as no surprise that James Talarico has a Dr. Fauci action figure," commentator Benny Johnson wrote on X.
The National Rifle Association offered some advice on X.
Talarico’s post resurfaced Wednesday after Fauci repeatedly invoked his Fifth Amendment right to avoid making self-incriminating statements more than 100 times.
At time time of his original post as well as today, Talarico was serving as a member of the Texas House of Representatives.
"James Talarico called Fauci a superhero," Republican Texas Sen. Ted Cruz wrote on X Wednesday. "Today, Fauci took the Fifth 111 times. Apparently accountability was sold separately."
"If you push the lever, it pleads the Fifth," the Cruz added in a separate post.
At Wednesday’s hearing, Fauci suggested the hearing was the result of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-Ky.) "unhinged obsession" with him.
The doll features a "removable mask" and can be purchased online for around $25.
It is part of a line of toys called "real life action figures" manufactured by a company called FCTRY.
Other figures in the series are Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and former Vice President Kamala Harris.