Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico’s previous interviews and statements are going viral since he won his party’s nomination.
Talarico, a Texas state representative, became the Senate nominee for the state after beating Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) in Tuesday’s primary race and is campaigning as a Christian Democratic lawmaker. The candidate discussed religion with Politicon co-hosts James Carville and Al Hunt in February and proposed people “look inward” to find out how to become “more Christ-like.”
This segment of the interview is being widely spread on X.
“I have met so many Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics who are more Christ-like than some of the Christians I served with in the Texas legislature,” Talarico said. “It is about how you treat other people.”
Talarico also joked about Attorney General Ken Paxton, who is running in the Republican primary for this Senate race, saying, “He follows the Ken Commandments, not the 10 Commandments.” He added that Matthew 25 says “nothing about being a good Christian” and is instead about how to treat others, arguing non-Christians “embody” this teaching better than “the really loud Christians” serving in office.
Assistant Attorney General of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division Harmeet Dhillon, a member of the Sikh religious community, shared this clip on X, saying Talarico is “faker than Impossible burgers.”
Another old Talarico interview that is going viral after his primary win is a Fox News interview he did in 2021, debating with the War Secretary Pete Hegseth, a Fox News anchor at the time, about voter identification. Talarico said he opposes voter ID even though it is current Texas law, and he pushed Hegseth to tell his viewers that President Donald Trump lost the 2020 election.
The Washington Examiner contacted Talarico’s campaign to ask what its strategy will be if Republicans aim to use these clips against him this November.
“John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, and the billionaires who prop them up are scared of James Talarico for good reason: our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and take power back for working people,” Talarico spokesman JT Ennis told the Washington Examiner.
“While they lob stale attacks to mislead Texans, we are uniting the people of Texas to win in November.”
GOP RUSHES TO DEFINE TALARICO AS CORNYN-PAXTON RACE GOES INTO OVERTIME: ‘TRUMP-HATING RADICAL’
Talarico’s primary victory has instilled hope among Democrats that they can unseat Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), who is seeking a fifth term in office. Former Vice President Kamala Harris initially backed Crockett in the primary race but is now offering her “full support” to Talarico in the general election.
Cornyn and Paxton are engaged in a runoff election set for May 26, after neither candidate earned 50% of the vote on primary election day. Trump has yet to endorse either, though he said he intends to on Truth Social, asking whoever does not get his backing to drop out.
