Texas country singer Kacey Musgraves is throwing her weight behind US Senate candidate James Talarico—and firing back at former Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem.
On Saturday, Talarico attended Musgraves’ concert in Dallas as part of her Middle of Nowhere tour. On Monday, Noem tweeted a screenshot of Talarico’s Facebook post about the concert and used it as an opportunity to campaign for Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton.
“I’ll take [Ella Langley] over Kacey Musgraves any day,” Noem, who previously represented South Dakota in the House of Representatives, posted on X. “And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.”
Musgraves responded on X: “I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it.”
Noem revealed in her 2024 book, No Going Back, that she shot and killed her family’s dog, Cricket, over her “aggressive personality.” The story garnered widespread backlash and countless jokes.
After a nine-day absence from the campaign trail, Talarico was out and about in Texas. On Friday, he appeared at Austin City Limits Music Festival and shook hands with festgoers around Zilker Park.
Musgraves has never been afraid to wade into politics or share her opinions. In May, during three nights of performances at New Braunfels’ Gruene Hall, Musgraves invited The Mariachi Brothers to open. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement previously detained the brothers, who were released in March.
Musgraves also acknowledged her outspoken nature during her shows in Austin, just days before Talarico attended her Dallas show.
“You may not agree with everything that I say, but what I do want to say is that everything that I do, stand up for, choose to put myself on the line for, it’s because I believe it with my heart,” Musgraves said at her Oct. 8 concert in Austin. “At the end of the day, I just want to bring people together.”
