‘This can’t be real life’: Social media in disbelief after Trump raves about how much he loves meat at rally

Donald Trump’s latest rally appearance has been ridiculed after the president declared his “love for meat” while attacking Texas Senate candidate James Talarico.Trump hosted a pair of midterm campaign events in Lubbock and Corpus Christi in the Lone Star State to stump for Republican Ken Paxton Tuesday. During his speeches he speculated on Talarico’s recent absence from the campaign trail due to sickness.The president referenced the baseless MAGA conspiracy theory that Talarico’s “disappearance” was really due to a mental health episode before offering his own spin.“I happen to think he was food poisoned by meat because he can’t stand it,” the president told his audience in Corpus Christi. “You ever see him go to a barbecue and he’s trying to show – ‘I love the meat! Ahhh – I love it. Look.’ And then you see him. Where is he? He’s behind the tent puking. He’s sick as a dog."President Donald Trump falsely claimed that Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico secretly loathes meat at a midterms rally in Corpus Christi, Texas, Tuesday (Reuters)Trump made a series of hand gestures as he imitated the Democrat supposedly reluctantly eating meat. He then pivoted to an anecdote about first lady Melania Trump correcting his pronunciation of “vegan,” claiming he did not know because: “I really do like the meat.”“He’s been a vegan and there’s not a damn thing he can do about it,” he insisted of Talarico, who has routinely denied being vegan.Social media was quick to respond to the president’s performance, which comes as he faces plunging approval ratings and gloomy predictions for the midterms. “This can’t be real life,” one person wrote on X, marveling at the latest incident, which followed Trump’s recent run of making admiring comments about the physical attributes of Ohio GOP Sen. John Husted and rapper Nicki Minaj. Another posted a meme of the president’s likeness sculpted out of raw meat, which he captioned, “Introducing the Trump Steak,” a reference to a real product to which the mogul once leant his name. “I’M CRYING!… The noises and hand gestures aren’t helping, Donnie,” said a further X user. Others saw it differently, with a disaffected Trump supporter suggesting: “He’s trying to sell us on his Argentinian meat that was rejected by China due to carcinogens.”Earlier in the evening, the president had warned the crowd that Texas will “go off meat, you’ll go off oil” if Talarico beats Paxton next week. He also suggested his own supporters might not be able to afford a hamburger at Mar-a-Lago, saying of his own Florida home: “Don’t go there. That’s not a good place… if you’re price-conscious.” Trump has repeatedly pushed the false claim that Talarico privately despises meat.Talarico has denied being a vegan but that has not stopped supporters of his Republican rival Ken Paxton, led by Trump, making fun of him (AFP/Getty)At an appearance at the Peterbilt Motors Company manufacturing plant in Denton, Texas, on October 1, he said of the Democrat, for whom he has many nicknames: “You got a freako. Notice the way all of a sudden he’s eating meat? “He doesn’t eat meat. He’s a vegan, and you know what a vegan is? You know what he does after he eats? He throws up. He gets rid of the meat.”He also joked about Talarico vomiting during a White House patio dinner on September 3, adding: “In Texas, if you don’t eat meat, you’re in deep trouble.