In a resurfaced 2023 interview, Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico laughed while recounting how his church stirred controversy by housing a family of undocumented immigrants facing deportation by ICE.
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and Democratic state representative, is running against Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for a Senate seat both parties consider critical to their national ambitions.
The clip, taken from Texas Impact’s “Weekly Witness” show in June 2023, shows Talarico crediting his faith as the reason “why I am in politics,” pointing to his church’s history of advancing progressive causes.
“Our church was really active in LGBTQ rights in the ’90s. We caught some attention by letting an atheist join our church in the 2000s, and then in the 2010s, again stirred some controversy by housing an undocumented family, a mother and son, who were close to being deported by ICE,” Talarico said in the clip.
He described that tradition as the foundation for his decision to teach public school students, run an education nonprofit, and ultimately pursue elected office in Texas.
Talarico capped the remarks with a laugh, declaring, “this idea that Christianity is just another word for causing trouble.”
In the same interview, Talarico criticized what he called “Christo-fascism,” accusing the religious right of using faith to exercise “raw political, social and economic power” and subvert democracy by imposing a particular version of Christianity on the public.
He pointed to several Texas laws as examples, including a requirement for public schools to display the Ten Commandments, legislation allowing schools to hire chaplains in place of guidance counselors, the state’s school voucher program, bans on gender transition procedures for minors, and Texas’ abortion ban.
“All these ideologies stem from this Christo-fascism movement, which, essentially, like I said, is just using faith to exercise raw political, social and economic power,” said Talarico. “I think it’s dangerous to all of us, but particularly to those who are marginalized and oppressed in our state.”
Republican National Committee spokesman Zach Kraft responded sharply, telling Fox News Digital that “despite looking like a loser, Talarico is a dangerous man,” and accusing him of working to dismantle border security and defund police.
Talarico’s campaign spokesperson JT Ennis pushed back against those characterizations, saying Ennis called the RNC’s “attacks are flat out lies,” and arguing that Talarico “opposes defunding the police and supports stronger border security and immigration enforcement.”
“James opposes defunding the police and supports stronger border security and immigration enforcement — it’s why he’s voted to send billions of dollars to support law enforcement, called for more border patrol agents, and has said we should be arresting and deporting violent criminals and human traffickers — not moms and babies,” Ennis said.
Madison Cercy, a spokeswoman for Paxton’s campaign, accused Talarico of practicing a version of Christianity incompatible with most Texans’ values, saying “James Talarico hates Christianity, and he’s said it.”
Despite Republican efforts to highlight Talarico’s history of controversial statements, including past remarks that “God is nonbinary” and that there are six sexes, Talarico leads Paxton in a recent Fox News poll.
Paxton, who only recently concluded a primary runoff against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, told Fox News Digital after a rally in Houston that his polling deficit was “not surprising” given the late start to his general election campaign.
“We’re still three months out,” Paxton said. “And I know that when we put our resources together, when we get there, we will be able to highlight things and once the voters know the real James Talarico, not the fake one that’s running right now, people will get to decide for themselves.”
