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WATCH: Talarico instantly names favorite Texas drag queen — a performer who says he ‘works with children’

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Cite

Creitz, C. (2026, September 14). WATCH: Talarico instantly names favorite Texas drag queen — a performer who says he ‘works with children’. Fox News. https://www.foxnews.com/politics/talarico-instantly-names-favorite-texas-drag-queen-performer-says-works-children

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Fox News · collected 2026-09-14 · by Charles Creitz

Quick Summary

At a campaign event, Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico quickly named Alyssa Edwards as his favorite drag queen when asked by an attendee. Alyssa Edwards is the stage name of Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, who has been involved in performing with young dancers and has described himself as "a drag performer that works with children." This exchange comes amid criticism over Talarico's past comments on gender issues, including his endorsement of Texas having "some of the best drag queens in the nation" and his statement that "God is nonbinary."
Written by AI on 2026-09-14, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico named Alyssa Edwards as his favorite drag queen when approached by a supporter at a campaign event. Alyssa Edwards is the stage name for Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, known for performing and advocating on LGBT issues. This exchange comes amid attacks in the Senate race over Talarico’s past comments about sexuality and gender, including praising Texas's "best drag queens" and saying "God is nonbinary." The supporter who questioned Talarico noted that he was there when Talarico defended drag performances. Edwards herself has been vocal against bans on youth participation in drag shows and criticized President Trump over transgender military service restrictions.

Written for “Texas Drag Queen Controversy” on 2026-11-01, grounded in this article and the 1 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Texas Drag Queen Controversy
Politics · 2 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 0% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Washington Examiner
Hedges 2 of 18 claims Outlet record 70/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
16
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 16 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
withheld
no quote in the article backed the model's score
Publisher signals
69/100
Fox News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
2
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-14 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Fox News · 6161 article(s) · 11 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 11 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Charles Creitz
39 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
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Also by Charles Creitz
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 39 articles by Charles Creitz →

Topics

Democratic Fox News Digital Senate Talarico Texas

Subjects

Talarico PERSON · 8× Johnson PERSON · 5× Alyssa Edwards PERSON · 4× Texas GPE · 4× Democratic NORP · 2× Fox News Digital ORG · 2× Senate ORG · 2× James Talarico PERSON · 1× Taylor PERSON · 1× the Washington Free Beacon ORG · 1×

Narrative

Talarico’s past comments on sexuality and gender issues have become a line of attack in the Senate race, including his remark that "God is nonbinary" and his 2023 praise for Texas having "some of the best drag queens in the nation." "Mr. Talarico, so nice to meet you...
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-14

Claims (16 extracted, 0 hedged)

Texas Democratic Senate hopeful James Talarico instantly named Alyssa Edwards when asked at a campaign event to identify his favorite drag queen in the state — pointing to someone who has publicly described himself as "a drag performer that works with children." asserted
that → name → children
Talarico’s past comments on sexuality and gender issues have become a line of attack in the Senate race, including his remark that "God is nonbinary" and his 2023 praise for Texas having "some of the best drag queens in the nation." "Mr. Talarico, so nice to meet you... asserted
Texas → become → you
I was there when you defended the drags," video shows a man telling the Democratic nominee as he approached to take a photo together at the event. asserted
he → defend → event
"Who’s your favorite drag queen in Texas?" the man asks in the video. asserted
man → ’ → video
Without a pause, Talarico responds: "Oh, my gosh. asserted
Talarico → respond → pause
The exchange comes after the Washington Free Beacon reported on a 2021 event Talarico headlined called "Taylor PRIDE" in Taylor, Texas, where an 11-year-old boy performed in drag under the name Kween Kee Kee. asserted
boy → come → name
In the more recent exchange, Talarico's instant response naming Edwards referred to Justin Dwayne Lee Johnson, whose stage name is Alyssa Edwards. asserted
name → name → Johnson
"I remember being at World Pride in New York a few years back and sharing the stage with my dance students, one of the most powerful moments of my life," Johnson said in an interview with Out magazine. asserted
Johnson → remember → magazine
Johnson’s work with young dancers was also featured in the 2018 Netflix docuseries "Dancing Queen." asserted
work → feature → docuseries
The Dallas Observer reported that Johnson called one 10-year-old male student his "mini-me," and that the child dressed as Alyssa Edwards during an episode of the series. asserted
child → report → series
When asked about the encounter, a spokesperson for Talarico instead appeared to turn the criticism toward the Republican opponent: asserted
spokesperson → ask → opponent
"James’ favorite performer is Ken Paxton — who dresses up as attorney general while giving sweetheart deals to child sex predators," Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis told Fox News Digital. asserted
Ennis → dress → Digital
Fox News Digital also reached out to Johnson’s representation for comment. asserted
Digital → reach → comment
Asked separately by Fox News last week about his controversial comments on gender and related issues, Talarico said he "missed the mark on some of my past statements. asserted
he → ask → statements
He said then that he no longer believes there are six sexes, and that people are bringing up that kind of commentary because they do not want to talk about "six dollar diesel" with Republicans in the majority. asserted
they → say → majority
Fox News' Brooke Taylor contributed to this report. asserted
Taylor → contribute → report
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