The beef continues: Paxton and Talarico continue their attacks on each other, Talarico talks Texas barbecue

In the battle for the Texas Senate seat, both Republican nominee Ken Paxton and Democratic nominee James Talarico kept up their attacks against each other.

Paxton visited Washington, D.C., where he met with Senate Republican leaders who had backed the four-term incumbent, Senator John Cornyn. But after Paxton's blowout win, Senate Republican leaders embraced the attorney general and will help him raise money. Paxton was seen leaving a meeting with Senate Majority Leader John Thune. He gave reporters a thumbs-up but declined to answer questions.

On Tuesday night, Paxton met with President Trump in the Oval Office at the White House. Lt. Governor Dan Patrick was also in attendance at the meeting. President Trump has said he will campaign with Paxton in Texas. The American Airlines Center in Dallas has been floated as a host for a special convention in September for the midterm election.

Cornyn stands his ground

For the first time since the election, Senator Cornyn returned to Washington, and he stood his ground when asked if he stands by his criticisms of Paxton during the hard-fought campaign. Cornyn was asked if he thinks that Paxton is fit to serve in the position.

"Well, I've said no, he's not, but again, he won the race fair and square, and if you run for elections, you have to learn to trust the voters and their judgment," he responded. "But I don't think the story is over. I think it's just the beginning. We'll see what happens in November."

Talarico campaigns in North Texas

Democrat James Talarico has been hitting the campaign trail and made his final stop of a five-city tour in Plano, in Collin County, Paxton's home base. His campaign said nearly 4,000 people attended the Plano Center on Monday night.

Talarico criticized Paxton's ethics. "Ken Paxton has escaped accountability, but accountability is coming on November third," Talarico said. "Ken Paxton is everything that's wrong with this broken system. He does not serve us. He serves himself."

Talarico also campaigned in Dallas on Tuesday.

He went to Smokey Joe's Barbecue in Southern Dallas, where he ate some Texas barbecue with the owner and State Senator Royce West of Dallas. Talarico blamed the rising beef prices on President Trump's tariffs and said he would eliminate them. He also said he would suspend the diesel fuel tax to help lower costs. Talarico wants to fully fund the US Department of Agriculture to help businesses and to protect cattle ranchers in the beef industry in Texas.

His stop here comes as he has sought to distance himself from past comments on video, highlighted by Paxton and other Republicans, in which he said people should eat less meat because of climate change and that his previous campaign was non-meat and promoting vegan products. Eye on Politics Reporter Jack Fink asked Talarico about the change after making comments years ago about a non-meat campaign and promoting vegan products.

"The reason we're here is because we want to use some of the humorous back and forth on the campaign trail about veganism to make a serious point about rising food prices, particularly the rising price of beef," responded Talarico.

"The fact that we have iconic barbecue joints that are at risk of closing because of these crazy tariffs, because of the Argentinian bailout that undercuts Texas cattle ranchers, we want to draw a real spotlight to these issues. I can use the vegan debate to lure the press here to talk about these things. Y'all like to cover conflict, so we're using the conflict to shine a spotlight on the real issues that Texans are facing."

Talarico raking in campaign funds

Talarico has proven successful at raising funds. He announced that he raised $3 million in the first 24-hour period after Paxton defeated Cornyn in the Republican runoff.

Governor Greg Abbott recently brushed that aside. In a news conference, Abbott said, "We saw it when Beto ran for Senate. We saw it when Beto ran against me for governor. The Democrats get all excited. This is the year when Texas is going to turn blue. But it never pans out. And there's a reason why it doesn't pan out. That's because of the policies and positions that have been taken by these candidates."

The governor outlined a variety of public safety initiatives recently to crack down on violent, repeat offenders and those in the U.S. illegally.

During Talarico's event in Plano, the Democratic nominee for governor, Gina Hinojosa, also addressed the crowd. She discussed her plan to address health care.

"I will guarantee healthcare to every single Texas child," said Hinojosa. "And rein in the health insurance companies that charge us more but make it harder to see the doctors that we need and get the medicines that we need."

Hinojosa is also running her first campaign ads that will stream during the San Antonio Spurs-New York Knicks NBA Finals.