Democratic Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett accused outside operatives and media figures Monday of orchestrating a “specific intent to defund” her Senate campaign.

A January Emerson College Polling/Nexstar Media survey found Texas state legislator James Talarico leading Crockett 47% to 38% in the Senate primary, with 15% of voters undecided. Appearing on “The Lead with Jake Tapper,” Crockett accused political operatives and media figures outside the state of working to choke off her fundraising, saying that allies of her Senate primary opponent have pushed negative stories in New York and Washington while urging donors not to contribute to her campaign.

“We do know that there was a specific intent to try to defund our campaign. As we saw, podcasters specifically saying, ‘Do not send money to Jasmine Crockett.’ We know the operative that is behind my opponent’s campaign that has specifically been peddling these stories to New York and D.C. That’s why the stories aren’t coming out of Texas,” Crockett told Dana Bash. “But instead they’re coming from New York and D.C., just like the podcasters are coming out of New York and D.C. But I have faith in the Texans. And the coalition that we specifically attract is the coalition that [it] is going to take to win. The most recent polling that came out from [the] University of Houston said, number one, that independents and Republicans prefer me.”

New York–based podcasters Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang said on their “Las Culturistas” podcast that donating to Crockett’s Senate campaign is a “waste” and urged listeners not to contribute. Crockett said critics claim she cannot win statewide, but she insisted the data does not back that up.

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“Now they want to say that I can’t win, but the reality is that the numbers don’t suggest that, and no one is putting numbers behind this. All they’re doing is sinking a lot of money into a candidate who has never been tested and never been hit. The final point that I’ll say is not only does my opponent have a super PAC that is spending against us with negative ads, but also our governor,” Crockett said. “He decided to sink over a million dollars into TV ads against me, our governor. Listen, the Republicans say that they believe that I would be the one that they want. But when you look at their actions, who spends a million dollars and didn’t even go after the people that are running against him?”

Crockett’s Texas Senate campaign has fallen significantly behind her rival in both fundraising and advertising spending, with Talarico outpacing her by a wide margin. Crockett’s allies said she’s taking an unconventional campaign approach because traditional methods, like large TV ad buys and a conventional campaign structure, were not “designed” for her.

Crockett’s campaign has spent far less on media compared with Talarico, who has already aired significant ad buys across multiple platforms. Despite the spending gap and criticism from some corners, recent polling in the race shows a close contest.

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