Last week, the State Fair of Texas announced that it was giving Big Tex a makeover by giving the 55-foot-tall cowboy a new shirt and hat, courtesy of Cavender’s Boot City and Resitol, ahead of this fall’s State Fair. But if you live on one corner of the internet, you may have believed Big Tex was getting a more radical new look.
Last week on X, the Everything App, a much different narrative spread among right-wing power users: That the State Fair was going to make Big Tex Black. It’s unclear when this spread, but it seemed to begin when “Dallas Texas TV,” a gigantic social media page that posts Texas news and viral videos across Facebook, X and Instagram, posted about Big Tex’s new Cavendar’s-provided wardrobe. An X account called “Dallas En Fuego” with a few thousand followers then quote-tweeted that post with a video, captioned “But what about his ‘melatonin?'”
But what about his βmelatonin?β https://t.co/pEcfKdg31spic.twitter.com/WPmVaYr6bQ
β π»πππππ€ πΌπ π½π¦πππ (@dallasenfuego) July 23, 2026
The video shows a meeting of the Dallas City Council’s Parks, Trails, and the Environment Committee from Jan. 6, 2025. In it, ex-Councilmember Carolyn King Arnold questioned leaders of the Texas State Fair about whether or not it would be possible to change Big Texas’ skin-tone to be more inclusive. Arnold seems to confuse “melanin” with “melatonin,” asking State Fair officials who decides Big Tex’s skin color. She also asks if Big Tex can be “tanned,” trying several times to clarify…