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Talarico James rep

PRIMARY 10 26 CURSE BE DAMNED

see evange 6 attacks

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James Fishback Urges People To Buy An AR-15 To Protect Their Children From 'James Talafreako'

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Trump-loving Christian nationalist William Wolfe claims that James Talarico "spectacularly" fails the "Babysitter Test": "There is no loving parent who wants this creep within 500 feet of their kids. Deep down, even liberal parents know that." For what it is worth, we wouldn't want Wolfe within 500 feet of our kids either.

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10/20/2026

byKyle Mantyla

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JDV VILE WEIRD TRANS KIDS BROWSER HISTORY PROJECTION

THEN JUST SAID GAY

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Lara Logan has a clever nickname for James Talarico: Little Satan.

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Fox News: Where Ken Paxton partying with fugitives is much less interesting than James Talarico getting the flu

Just a minute and a half of coverage after days on Talarico’s campaign trail absence

Written by Matt Gertz

Research contributions from Tyler Monroe

Published 10/14/26

Fox News barely covered Monday's report that Texas attorney general and GOP nominee for U.S. Senate Ken Paxton had partied overseas with two fugitives from U.S. justice — one of whom was a major donor to his campaign — as well as his mistress. Its hosts’ nonchalant reaction to Paxton’s new scandal comes amid their multi-day fixation on his Democratic opponent James Talarico’s temporary absence from the campaign trail due to illness.

The Wall Street Journal, which like Fox is part of Rupert Murdoch’s media empire, reported late Monday:

As fireworks exploded over the Burj Khalifa skyscraper to welcome 2025, Paxton and his girlfriend Tracy Duhon watched from a luxury high-rise balcony full of people, according to a video of the gathering viewed by The Wall Street Journal, details of which were contained in court filings and confirmed by people familiar with the matter.

Among those at the event with Texas’ top law-enforcement official were two Americans who had been indicted months before on federal healthcare-fraud charges but failed to return to the U.S., Anosh Ahmed and Sameer Suhail, according to the court records and people familiar with the matter. Ahmed, a healthcare executive, had donated $190,000 to Paxton, campaign-finance records show, including $25,000 days after he was indicted.

The Journal’s story, which featured video of Paxton at the event, was widely covered across Texas print and national television news — but not on Fox, which provided a grand total of 1 minute and 33 seconds of airtime to the bombshell as of noon ET on Wednesday. The coverage was limited to network correspondents who referenced the Paxton story during packaged reports on Tuesday's editions of The Story and Special Report and Wednesday's edition of Fox & Friends.

Each Fox segment describes Paxton as having attended a party in Dubai with “two men who had been indicted on federal healthcare fraud charges,” highlights the Paxton campaign’s response that the candidate had been subjected to a “politically motivated attack,” and contrasts the Journal report with Talarico’s absence from the campaign trail the previous week. None of the segments explicitly mention that the men were fugitives, that one of them was a major donor to Paxton’s campaign, that Paxton’s mistress was also present, or that the “attack” originated from another Murdoch-controlled outlet.

Video

Citation

From the October 14, 2026, edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends

Fox stars like Jesse Watters, Laura Ingraham, and Sean Hannity, along with the co-hosts of Fox & Friends, all ignored the story on their programs.

But those Fox hosts do find stories about the Texas Senate race newsworthy — when they emanate from rumormongering by Republicans and MAGA influencers rather than well-sourced accounts from their network's corporate cousins at the Journal.

The underlying facts are incredibly banal. On September 30, Talarico revealed that he had been diagnosed with the flu during a virtual appearance at an event. After eight days at home, he returned to public events on Friday, and on Sunday gave an interview in which he said, “I had the flu.”

But in the days in between and following those appearances, Paxton attempted to turn Talarico’s absence from the trail into a campaign issue, President Donald Trump tossed off some baseless insinuations, and right-wing media went berzerk. “By Sunday, the conservative internet was consumed by an unsubstantiated claim from a right-wing influencer that Mr. Talarico had flown to a mental health facility in Ohio, more than 1,000 miles away from Austin, for treatment of an undisclosed illness,” The New York Times reported.

The Talarico conspiracy theory never made any sense and was thoroughly dismantled by the Times and The Bulwark. But Fox, as a MAGA propaganda front whose hosts are deeply invested in the Texas Senate race, plugged into the GOP effort to turn Talarico staying home with the flu into a major scandal.

While the network’s stars largely avoided citing the most fetid insinuations of the online right, they nonetheless spent several days talking up the Paxton-Trump attack lines. Jesse Watters Primetime and Hannity each covered the story on Thursday, Friday, Monday, and Tuesday; The Ingraham Angle on Friday and Monday; and Fox & Friends on Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Talarico’s return to the campaign trail and the collapse of the right’s narrative did little to slow the Fox frenzy — instead, they simply scrounged for new angles. Watters, for instance, said Monday that Talarico’s absence showed he “doesn’t run his own campaign because his staff told him to stay in bed for two weeks” and that he had spent his time “in bed … thinking about all those trans kids.”

By Tuesday, Fox News Digital was acknowledging that the “viral rumor” that Talarico had checked into a mental hospital “has now been debunked” — but cited Republican strategists and a right-wing media figure to frame Talarico’s campaign as the story’s villain for not stopping the frenzy.

Even as late as Wednesday morning — five days after Talarico’s return to the campaign trail — Fox’s America’s Newsroom ran a segment highlighting comments Trump made on the stump about the Democrat’s absence the previous week. The program, putatively part of the network’s “hard news” hours, has not reported on the Journal’s Paxton story.

It turns out that the MAGA media is marbled-through with reprobates who have no interest whatsoever in providing their audiences with truthful information about Democrats — or in reviewing the corruption scandals of Republicans.

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The negative space in Fox News coverage

09/22/26 4:03 PM EDT

How Fox News stars are covering the 2026 Senate midterm elections

10/14/26 8:03 AM EDT

Fox News at 30: Even the pretense of impartiality is all but gone

10/07/26

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HAD FLU // ~ MITCH M PROOF OF LIFE?

JUMPER CABLES, MUSKIE TEARS? EFFEM SOY BOY

MEAT MADE HIM SICK?

YT MSNBC? AX POD SAVE? HE IS THE ANTITHESIS OF TRUMP IN TERMS OR CHARACTER/ MORALITY

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Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly is having a difficult time accepting that the conspiracy theories around James Talarico were false, and legitimate journalists can't stop mocking her.

After a week full of conspiracy theories, a right-wing personality posted an audio recording that he claimed was from a woman working for a mental health facility in Ohio that confirmed Talarico had been a patient there. The facility, Lindner Center of Hope, released a statement Sunday afternoon telling journalists that it would never reveal any patient's name because it would violate HIPAA.

By Sunday evening, the Center sent out a statement making it clear that Talarico was never a patient there. Talarico, for his part, reposted the statement saying that he'd never even been to Ohio.

Kelly couldn't understand.

"Could you pls clarify @LindnerCtrHope: 1. Has James Talarico been to your facility at all at any point in the last 9 days? 2. Was the facility operator who said he had been there mistaken? Will you allow her to speak publicly?" she asked on X.

The recording from political commentator Nick Sortor is authentic, but it didn't contain all of the information.

The Bulwark obtained the full six-minute recording, where the woman on the phone makes it clear that Talarico was never there. Sorto didn't put that in his audio edit, meaning he knew that Talarico wasn't at the facility, but broadcast the claim anyway.

"Sortor hadn’t actually made the call. That was Amacher, who had also cut his teeth filming the Portland ICE protests. Amacher had posted call logs that indicated his actual conversation with (allegedly) the person at Lindner lasted roughly six minutes. So, we asked him for the full recording (not the 45-second clip Sortor had posted). And, thankfully, he sent it along."

"It turns out, that the 45-second portion came at the very end of the actual call. What came before was a series of lies Amacher told to trick the apparent Lindner employee into handing over private information. It also included the employee’s repeated denials that anyone named 'James Talarico' was in her system at all," the report said.

Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith noted, "What a crazy information environment."

"No wonder she got fired from NBC. Totally conspiracy-pilled," commented political analyst and strategist Neera Tanden.

"What stage of grief is this?" asked ZenithPolls founding partner Adam Carlson.

"You’ve really lost the plot buddy," ex-Republican Sarah Longwell shot back at Kelly.

Huffington Post reporter SV Dáte commented to Kelly, "Trump acts like a complete lunatic every single day, if suddenly we’re that concerned with mental health."

NewsNation's Chris Cuomo got in on the mockery too, "Next target."

Patrick Pfingsten, who writes for The Illinoize and hosts in the afternoon on WMAY News, noted, "'Never' seems as if it would cover the last 9 days."

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JD Vance Says James Talarico Has 'A Weird Obsession With Children In Drag'

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Christian Nationalism

MAGA Pastor Robert Jeffress Calls Democrats ‘Advocates for Evil’

MAGA pastor Robert Jeffress praises the corrupt authoritarian Trump while demeaning the faith of outspoken Christian Senate candidate James TalarICO

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WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?

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Mark Meckler Says James Talarico 'Is Just A Tool For The Devil'

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Lance Wallnau Says James Talarico Is 'A Backdoor To Al Qaeda'

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08/24/2026

by

Kyle Mantyla

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Democrats haven't won a statewide race in GOP-dominated Texas since the 1990s. But a U.S. Senate race in the Lone Star State, according to polls, is highly competitive. Centrist Democrat James Talarico, polls say, has a good shot against the controversial Republican nominee, far-right Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton. And according to Politico, angst among rural voters could give Democrats long-awaited statewide victories in a state Republicans have dominated for decades.

Opposition to data centers, according to Politico's Shelby Webb, is a major problem for Abbott — as they are drawing stern opposition from both Republicans and Democrats. But it isn't the only problem.

"Rural voters may not stop the spread of data centers," Webb explains, "but they could stop Texas Gov. Greg Abbott. The Republican is bleeding support from small towns as he seeks a fourth term because of two late-emerging issues: power-hungry tech campuses and a planned $33 billion electric transmission build-out. Pushback against Abbott points to larger fears about losing rural identities, but also to everyday concerns about construction, pollution and tight supplies of water and electricity."

According to Webb, "Some longtime conservatives are now considering the unthinkable — voting in November for a Democrat to be Texas' next governor. And Abbott's August directive to pause Texas data center grid approvals hasn’t convinced all of them to vote for him."

Shawn Nanny, a Republican county commissioner in West Texas, describes data centers and power lines as the "straws that broke the camel's back" with Abbott and rural GOP voters.

Nanny told Politico, "They understand the repercussions of that, but you know what I'm hearing is, 'Yeah, we'll have a Democrat in there and grit our teeth and bear it, but hopefully, we'll come out of it the following election.' They're so upset; they just want (Abbott) out."

According to Jim Henson, executive director of the Texas Politics Project, told Politico, "Rural people feel like they are the ones seeing the brunt of this, and they don't like it. These issues are starting to bond together a lot of the people against data centers."

Polling from the Texas Politics Project shows Abbott's approval down to 48 percent, which according to Webb, is a major warning sign for Lone Star Republicans.

Webb reports, "Rural Americans are among the most opposed to data center development, the Politico Poll shows. Fifty-one percent of rural U.S. adults surveyed in mid-July said they are opposed to data centers, compared with 32 percent of urban residents. Those numbers reflect higher rates of rural opposition to infrastructure projects in general, including power plants, warehouses and airports, according to the poll. But the disdain for data centers is higher than those other types of buildings."

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tc an 7 26

The 2026 midterms are here, and negative campaign messaging is flooding screens across the U.S. In Texas’ Senate race, Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton’s comments about Democratic Texas Rep. James Talarico have gone viral.

Rather than simply suggesting Talarico is weak on border security or inflation economics, Paxton’s campaign has taken a different rhetorical approach. To quoteFox News host Jesse Watters, “The major factor in this race … is whether Tala-freak-o is a vegan.”

Though Talarico maintains he is not vegan, Paxton has referred to his opponent as “Tofu Talarico.”

Paxton and Watters aren’t the only ones making these dietary accusations.

Earlier this year, after Talarico ordered a potato, egg and cheese taco from a restaurant in Austin, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott posted to his campaign social platform X account: “Homie is not beating the vegetarian allegations.”

Texas Sen. Ted Cruz joked that if a soy latte could speak, “that would be Democrat James Talarico.” Even President Donald Trump has chimed in: “He’s a vegan in Texas, and you can’t get elected as a vegan in Texas.”

Again, Talarico denies being a secret vegetarian or vegan. “I’m an eighth-generation Texan,”he has said. “I’ve been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton’s first indictment.”

The accusations likely stem from a 2022 appearance with the Texas Humane Legislation Network when Talarico suggested Americans reduce their meat consumption for climate reasons. His girlfriend follows a plant-based diet. Nonetheless, Talarico says that his campaign “runs on barbecue.”

As communication scholars who study the symbolic roles of meat and meat-eating in political communication, we see the construction of “Tofu Talarico” not as a one-off political jab but as part of a more sophisticated rhetorical strategy by which politicians appeal to voters.

Attacks on Talarico show how, across American politics, what people eat is a metaphoric marker of who they are, from political affiliation to regional belonging and cultural values. Eating meat – or not – plays a huge role in the political process, and accusations of meat avoidance, regardless of whether they’re true, can be a potent rhetorical weapon.

From left, former President Barack Obama, Texas Democratic Senate candidate Rep. James Talarico and Texas Democratic gubernatorial candidate Gina Hinojosa visit the Taco Joint in Austin in May 2026. Talarico’s order – potato, egg and cheese tacos – drew ridicule from Republicans, feeding vegetarian and vegan attack lines that he denies. AP Photo/Joel Angel Juarez, Pool

Meat, metaphor and political communication

Communication scholarship shows that metaphors, when a word or phrase denoting one object or idea is used in place of another, are more than literary decoration; they shape the way we perceive reality, acting as part of a “conceptual system” that enables snap judgments and decision-making.

As mental shortcuts, or heuristic devices, metaphors are common in political communication. They’re a means to “see something in terms of something else.”

For example, in the case of Paxton and Talarico, allegations of vegetarianism and veganism are not about Talarico’s nutritional profile or even his environmental ethics. Here, “vegan” and its analogues metaphorically stand in for weakness and nonconformity, whereas “meat” and its affiliates stand in for strength, traditionalism and the stereotypical Texan way.

This usage is consistent with what food politics researchers call the “sexual politics” of meat, wherein meat imagery is often used in displays of traditional masculinity. This is evident in other jabs levied at Talarico. For example, Watters linked Talarico’s diet to his sexual orientation, joking on Fox News that Talarico was a “gay vegan” with a fake girlfriend.

Dietary demographics and election modeling

Dietary preference also links to key political demographics. For example, political scientists have explored whether the concept of a Republican vegan is an oxymoron due to the deep entrenchment of meat-eating and meat production in primarily conservative regions.

Overwhelmingly, vegans tend to be women, young and liberal. Across all political identifications, being male and white correlates with higher meat consumption.

Even the choice of where to purchase meat can be an electoral measure. Political journalist Dave Wasserman has suggested that the 2012 election was a contest between “well-educated, Democratic-trending Whole Foods markets and down-home, Republican-trending Cracker Barrel outposts.”

Meatless political appeals

The “meatless” have long been framed as social and political threats, levied in discussions of whether they should be politically elevated or subordinated. Historically, Western norms during the 19th and 20th centuries held that to not eat meat is odd at best, and suspicious at worst.

In the late 1800s, colonialism in Asia was partially justified on the grounds that Asian men were but “effeminate rice eaters” who, according to 19th-century neurologist James Leonard Corning, lacked “the intellectual vigor of flesh-eating men.”

Negative appeals to veganism again flourished in 2019 after Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “Green New Deal,” a resolution proposing to combat climate change. Conservative senators like Joni Ernst and Marsha Blackburn attacked the environmentally progressive initiative as a “war on meat,” posing an existential threat to meat eaters and cattle farmers. Notably, the Green New Deal did not contain meat mandates. In the Green New Deal discussion, though, this hypothetical meat ban effectively functioned as metaphorical shortcut for progressive political overreach.

This demarcation is not confined to one political party. In a Democratic primary debate in 2019, New Jersey Senator Cory Booker – a vegan since 2014 – was asked by a debate moderator if, as president, he would demand Americans follow his diet. Booker, surprised by the personal question, said no. He did not win the nomination.

More meat, less elite

Meat, or lack thereof, has gathered more significance in the second Trump presidency via Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again initiative. Kennedy, who touts his “carnivore diet,” says he “only (eats) meat or fermented foods.” He has even modified the food pyramid – the Department of Agriculture’s visual nutrition guide – shifting red meat from a food to be consumed sparingly to a high dietary priority.

Meanwhile, multiple Republican-leaning states have banned cell-cultured meat, or meat produced in a lab, for not being “real” and, so, being dangerous. After signing a ban on cultured meat, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared that the bill represented a battle against the global elite and its “authoritarian goals.”

Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins speaks at a Department of Health and Human Services event in January 2026. The Trump administration announced new dietary guidelines emphasizing proteins. Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images

2026 and beyond

While the beef between Paxton and Talarico will likely resolve after the 2026 midterms, appeals to meat, meat eaters and meat-eating in U.S. political communication will not.

As available meat substitutes increase, economic burdens on ranchers rise and debates over the meat industry’s impact on climate change intensify, we expect meat’s culture war cachet to surge too.

“Tofu Talarico” is just one of what will be numerous examples of meat symbolizing what the future of the country, its leaders and its citizens should be.

S. Marek Muller, Associate Professor of Communication Studies, Texas State University and David Rooney, Associate Professor of Practice, University of Wyoming

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

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MMA

Two-thirds of Fox segments about James Talarico included anti-LGBTQ attacks | Media Matters for America

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Republican Dan Patrick says James Talarico will 'go to hell' for his view of the Bible - Alternet.org

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TARGET BC HE IS DEM STRONG IN STATE BETO ALMOST TIPPED CALLS OUT GOP RT ON BEING BAD XIANS

AMAZING OVER THE TOP BILE FROM PAXTON SPEECH WIN PRIMARY -->

“Weird,” “vegan,” and “effeminate”: Right-wing media are attacking James Talarico based on lies and vibes

Right-wing pundits have resorted to calling Talarico disparaging nicknames like “Tofu Talarico,” “Tala-freak-o,” and “Beta O’Rourke”

Written by Gideon Taaffe & Sage Hodil

Research contributions from Jane Lee

Published 05/28/26

Right-wing media are lobbing attacks at Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico, resorting to playground insults and seeking to define him as “unlikable,” “gay,” and “against meat.”

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NO LNX

GOP's sadism exposed as Republicans try to silence a Christian message

:{:{Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) at the 2014 Conservative Political Action}:

John Stoehr June 01, 2026

I have a pitcher full of ice water and I'm ready to use it on liberals and Democrats who are prematurely celebrating the Senate primary victory of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

Yes, he's deeply immoral and corrupt. Yes, he's a cheat and a liar. (Liberal Currents' Alan Elrod said he's "a paragon of the Trumpian politician – a man whose fascism flows as much from his prejudices as his own adolescent, libidinal self-indulgence.") But Texas is still gonna Texas, and like Democrat Graham Platner's supporters in Maine, who are willing to overlook his Nazi tattoo in order to oust Republican Susan Collins, Paxton's supporters are willing to overlook a multitude of sins to stop Democrat James Talarico from going to the US Senate.

Within hours of Paxton's defeat of incumbent Senator John Cornyn, the right began attacking Talarico – and making it very personal. "Tala-freako is a creep and he thinks he’s a vegan," RNC chairman Joe Gruters said. "He thinks God is nonbinary. He wants to mutilate children. He wants to put boys in girls locker rooms. ... All those things and the fact that they are openly supporting communists and socialists." A GOP strategist called Talarico an "emasculated vegan dweeb." Stephen Miller said he was "first transgender Senate candidate."

The ad hominem attacks were so immediate, so intense and so insane that some observers took it as a sign of Talarico's advantage over Paxton. "Interesting, if not surprising, that rightwingers have collectively agreed that their line of attack against Talarico is that he's supposedly feminine," James Surowiecki wrote on Twitter. "Not a trace of substance, just culture war bull----. Because how, on substance, do you defend voting for Ken Paxton?"

In speculating about the reasons Talarico is suddenly and "directly confronting attacks on his masculinity," according to NOTUS, I think liberals and Democrats still give rightwingers too much credit. They are not smearing him because of his strengths (which are many) or Paxton's liabilities (also many). They are smearing him because that's what they do.

As was the case during Donald Trump's three campaigns, what matters to many voters isn't leadership or policy or character. What matters is the collective desire to punch down on people whom the mob believes are deserving of it. (In this case, Talarico is associated with LGBTQ folks.) GOP campaigns are now like Vegas: what's done there stays there. They are vacations from morality, excuses to indulge in deviance and depravity. That Texans would suffer by electing Paxton doesn't change the fact that slandering "Soy Boy" is going to be fun.

Sadism is the point. We should draw attention to that moral failing by defending Talarico, not only on ethical grounds but on unambiguously religious grounds. This is not an easy thing to ask of some of my liberal brethren, as religion to them is frequently the problem in American politics, not a solution. But if nothing else, let this convince you: the most extreme smears against Talarico are not explicitly gendered. They are explicitly religious. He represents more than a viable Senate candidate who might – might! – turn Texas purple. Talarico embodies a viable path toward breaking the right's monopoly on faith, especially the Christian faith.

On Wednesday, this is what US Senator Mike Lee posted on Twitter, quote-tweeting a post by the DNC that said: "Texas: James Talarico is the only candidate who will put you first."

To the most conservative Christian sects in the United States (Mike Lee is a Mormon), Moloch is probably second only to Satan (or maybe the Antichrist) among figures of evil in the Bible. Secular liberals see this comparison and shrug. (It's just more of the same kookiness.) Religious liberals, however, see it as bad faith designed to prevent Talarico from attacking his political opponents where it hurts most. If Talarico is allowed to explain himself and his theological views, free of the slander against him, the most conservative religious voter might come to the conclusion that despite being a Democrat, he's still a good Christian.

Hold that in your mind as I remind you of the time, three months ago, when the Trump administration threatened to punish late-night comedian Stephen Colbert for airing an interview with Talarico. (This threat came after CBS had caved to Trump's bullying and cancelled his show.) In effect, the government banned Talarico. (The interview was posted online.) But what did it ban? Two decent men discussing the corruption of faith by politics.

"For 50 years," Talarico said:

the religious right ... convinced a lot of our fellow Christians that the most important issues were abortion and gay marriage, two issues that aren’t mentioned in the Bible. Two issues that Jesus never talked about. Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us exactly how you and I and ... our fellow believers [are] going to be judged and how we’re going to be saved: by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger. Nothing about going to church. Nothing about voting Republican. It was all about how you treat other people.

He continued:

Don't tell me what you believe. Show me how you treat other people and I’ll tell you what you believe. And I think in our faith we’ve got to get back to those fundamentals. My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas, and when I was little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion, not an easy religion, he would always clarify, but a simple religion, because Jesus gave us two commandments: love God and love neighbor. And there was no exception of that second commandment. Love thy neighbor, regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation.

I suspect Mike Lee was reacting to Talarico's biblical defense of abortion. He said God asked Mary for consent before impregnating her. Therefore, Talarico reasoned, a mother's life has privilege over that of an unborn child. While there is indeed a history of Protestants (though not Catholics) taking that view for granted, it's beside the point, as Talarico makes plain. Abortion is a modern concern, not a fundamental one. He pushes it out of the realm of religion and into the realm of politics. That, for the religious right, is deeply threatening.

Rightwingers want the public to believe that being a liberal and being a Christian are incompatible. Yet here's a man from inside the church (Talarico is a Presbyterian) speaking for a legitimate, though often ignored, theological tradition. Not only does that frustrate efforts to maintain the view that being a good Christian requires opposition to the variations of "race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation." It suggests that the Messiah himself might have been liberal. (He was, relatively speaking.)

No wonder Lee calls him Moloch.

This is why sadism is the end, not the means. Rightwingers must smear Talarico. They must make him seem like a perversion of Christian virtues, not an evangelist for them. He must not be allowed to speak for himself, only to react to the allegations against him. And that's why liberals – even secular godless liberals – should defend him, not only on ethical grounds but on unambiguously religious grounds. You don't have to care that a mob slandered Christ, too.

But Christians should.

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HOUSTON PUB MED 5 26

[Houston Public Media Here are the megadonors and dark money groups boosting James Talarico’s anti-billionaire Senate bid

As the Austin Democrat campaigns against big money in politics, he is being supported by a super PAC bankrolled by several billionaires,...

TEX PUB MED NO LNX

At the heart of this message is Talarico's avowed support for curbing the political influence of billionaire donors. He has sworn off corporate PAC donations, proposed measures to crack down on "billionaire tax loopholes" to ensure they "pay their fair share," and advocated for outlawing super PACs.

But the cast of contributors bankrolling Lone Star Rising PAC, a super PAC in his corner, features several billionaires, many of whom are prolific Democratic donors, and dark money nonprofit groups that do not have to disclose their funders.

While donors are capped at giving $3,500 per election to individual candidates, no such contribution limits exist for super PACs, which can spend unlimited funds supporting or opposing candidates, including through advertising, voter mobilization efforts and polling, as long as they don't coordinate with a candidate's campaign.

Lone Star Rising raised just under $9 million from its inception in September through the end of March, and spent almost all of it on ads supporting Talarico and attacking U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, his primary foe. The group's treasurer is Alexander Clark, who overlapped with Talarico when both taught in public schools in San Antonio through Teach for America.

Super PACs like Lone Star Rising have been key players in Texas' Senate race — U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and his Republican primary runoff opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton, both have such groups supporting them, as did Crockett. At the same time, dark money has surged in federal races, with Cornyn in particular benefiting from tens of millions in ad spending from a constellation of super PACs and nonprofit groups.

Both issues are thornier for Democrats, some of whom, like Talarico, have made getting big money out of politics central to their platforms. Ahead of the March primary, Crockett called him "a man that seemingly doesn't practice what he preaches," saying he had "welcomed and embraced these billionaires and their dark money support."

Talarico's campaign argues that 97% of contributions to his campaign account — which has raised over $40 million since he launched his campaign last fall — have come from small-dollar donors.

"The only way to stop super PACs like these is to vote out politicians like John Cornyn and Ken Paxton who want corporations and billionaires to decide our elections, not Texans," Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis said in a statement. "James is the only candidate that's outlined a comprehensive agenda ... so we can fix this broken, corrupt political system."

When previously asked about the support he receives from billionaire donors and super PACs, Talarico has said he will not "unilaterally disarm while Republicans play by their own rules," and that he welcomes billionaire supporters who believe they should be taxed more and see their political influence limited.

Garry Jones, the director of Lone Star Rising PAC, said the group was "explicit" to donors that it supports much the same goals.

"Unfortunately we live in a political system in which, if you don't use all the rules to your advantage, you're left behind, and by being left behind, your ideas and principles and policy goals are left behind," Jones, a longtime Democratic operative, said. "You can't approach the current political climate with your hands tied behind your back."

Here's a look at the donors backing the pro-Talarico Lone Star Rising PAC.

Reid HoffmanReid Hoffman

Amount donated to LSR: $1.5 million

Hoffman is the cofounder of LinkedIn and a billionaire venture capitalist, AI investor and Democratic megadonor. Since 2016, Hoffman has given roughly $77 million to numerous Democratic groups and campaigns in contributions reported to the FEC, including $10.3 million to former Vice President Kamala Harris' main super PAC, Future Forward PAC.

This cycle, Hoffman's largest collective contribution so far has gone to Lone Star Rising PAC. He has also donated to other Democratic U.S. Senate candidates, including former Gov. Roy Cooper in North Carolina, former Sen. Sherrod Brown in Ohio and Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia.

Hoffman recently drew scrutiny for his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein — the sex abuser and financier who died in jail in 2019 — upon the Justice Department's release of the Epstein files. The documents show Hoffman was communicating and meeting with Epstein well after Epstein pleaded guilty in 2008 for soliciting a minor for prostitution and was registered as a sex offender. Hoffman visited Epstein's private Caribbean island in 2014, gifted him a statue and offered to help with publicity after Epstein was accused of sex trafficking in 2014.

Crockett nodded at the connection in the leadup to the March election, saying, "If one of the individuals who donated publicly is someone in the Epstein files, imagine who else has given anonymously" — a reference to Lone Star Rising's dark money support.

Talarico has advocated for the full release of the Epstein files and justice for the victims of Epstein's circle. Most Republicans in Congress, including Cornyn, opposed releasing the files last fall before reversing and approving their disclosure.

Hoffman said on social media that he went to Epstein's island to help fundraise for the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He said the FBI under the Trump administration found no indication of wrongdoing, adding, "I regret ever interacting with Epstein."

The BenchThe Bench

Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

The Bench is an organization that launched in January to develop the "next generation of Democratic leaders" — specifically, up and coming candidates with unusual political profiles that, in the eyes of the group's leaders, reflect the states and districts they aim to represent. Lis Smith, a Democratic strategist who worked on Pete Buttigieg's 2020 presidential campaign, serves as a senior adviser to The Bench. Andrew Mamo, a consultant for Talarico's campaign, is a spokesperson for the group.

"Our candidates are community-rooted, values-driven, and ready to connect with voters across party lines," the group's website states.

This cycle, The Bench has also endorsed Tejano music star Bobby Pulido in Texas' 15th Congressional District and sheriff's deputy Johnny Garcia in the 35th Congressional District. Its roster of Senate candidates also includes former U.S. Rep. Mary Peltola in Alaska and state Sen. Mallory McMorrow in Michigan.

In the first three months of this year, The Bench received major donations including $2 million from billionaire hedge fund manager and Democratic donor Stephen Mandel; $500,000 from Better World Civic Trust; $395,000 from billionaire Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings; and $250,000 from billionaire crypto CEO and investor Michael Novogratz.

Adam PritzkerAdam Pritzker

Amount donated to LSR: $180,000

Adam Pritzker is a scion of the billionaire family that derives much of its wealth from the Hyatt hotel empire. He is a cousin of Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and a prolific Democratic donor, giving $926,000 to Kamala Harris' campaign in 2024.

Pritzker is a major supporter of state level Democrats around the country, contributing to state Democratic parties and cofounding and serving as president of PAC for America's Future, formerly known as Future Now Fund. The group's purpose, according to IRS filings, is to "elect the next generation of American leaders with a focus on state legislatures." PAC for America's Future helps fund the States Project, a group Pritzker cofounded that focuses on winning and defending blue majorities in state legislatures.

PAC for America's Future also maintains a Texas committee, which in 2024 received $2 million from investor Jonathan Soros, the son of billionaire financier and Democratic megadonor George Soros.

Texas Justice Fund

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Texas Justice Fund is a group affiliated with the Lone Star Project, a Democratic political research and communications firm founded in 2005 by strategist Matt Angle. Texas Justice Fund donated $500,000 to the Texas House Democratic Caucus last year around the Texas House Democrats' walkout over Republicans' mid-decade redistricting effort. A group called Texas Justice Fund is also registered as a 501(c)(4) with the IRS, listing Angle as its president and Lisa Turner — a Democratic strategist and wife of state Rep. Chris Turner — as its director.

Dark money groups

Government That Works PACGovernment That Works PAC

Amount donated to LSR: $3.75 million

Government That Works PAC is by far the biggest donor to Lone Star Rising PAC, but that money largely came from undisclosed sources. The group, according to its donation page, was "established to defeat ineffective and extreme incumbent candidates."

The group received $4 million from Sixteen Thirty Fund in January, around the time it gave $3.75 million to the pro-Talarico super PAC. Sixteen Thirty Fund is a top Democratic dark money hub that does not have to report its donors. It has previously been associated with Swiss billionaire Hansjörg Wyss and Democratic megadonor George Soros.

Government That Works PAC previously received $2.9 million from Contours Inc., which was recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(4) nonprofit in October 2025, meaning it does not have to disclose its donors. Contours Inc., according to its website, "educates voters and advocates for changes that give greater voice and choice to voters from coast to coast."

Government That Works PAC also received $300,000 from America Votes and $250,000 from Global Impact Social Welfare Fund — both of which are also dark money groups.

Lone Star Forward Fund Inc.Lone Star Forward Fund Inc.

Amount donated to LSR: $250,000

Lone Star Forward Fund Inc., according to its website, is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit. The group calls itself a "Texas policy advocacy organization dedicated to educating, engaging and mobilizing communities in support of progressive policies."

Sufam Advisors Corp

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Sufam Advisors Corp is a corporation first registered in Florida in 1992 by Neil Subin, an investment manager at MILFAM, a firm managing the assets of the descendents of industrialist Lloyd I. Miller Jr.

Finance

Stephen MandelStephen Mandel

Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

Mandel is a Connecticut billionaire hedge fund manager and major Democratic donor. He sits on the board of directors for Teach for America — through which Talarico taught middle school in San Antonio for two years — and is a supporter of charter schools. Mandel previously sat on the board of trustees of the Environmental Defense Fund. He established the Zoom Foundation in 2001, a nonprofit that funds environmental, education and democracy-based causes.

Mark JacobsenMark Jacobsen

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Jacobsen is the Maryland-based cofounder and CEO of the financial services firm IntraFi. He previously served as the chief of staff at the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and at the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. He has contributed to a number of Democrats running for Congress.

Mark HeisingMark Heising

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Heising is the founder of Medley Partners, a San Francisco-based private investment firm. A major Democratic donor, Heising holds six U.S. patents in cryptography, compression and data communications.

Heising serves as chair of the Environmental Defense Fund and as a board member of the Heising-Simons Foundation, which works to "advance sustainable solutions in climate and clean energy, enable groundbreaking research in science, enhance the education of our youngest learners, and support human rights for all people," according to its website.

Heising and his wife, Liz Simons, pledged to commit most of their wealth to philanthropy in 2016. According to their pledge letter, Heising worked as a chip designer before entering finance.

David GochmanDavid Gochman

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Gochman is the president and founder of Inclenberg Investments, a private investment firm focused on real estate with offices in Florida and Texas. Gochman previously led Academy Sports & Outdoors, a sporting goods company his grandfather founded in San Antonio in 1938. Based in Florida, he has contributed to numerous Democratic campaigns, groups and state parties in recent election cycles.

Philanthropists/Democratic donors

Lisa PrimusLisa Primus

Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

Primus is a New York physician, philanthropist and active Democratic donor who has given $7.7 million largely to Democratic groups and candidates over the years. She funds the Livelihood Impact Fund, which "invests funding and expertise into data driven early stage organizations that strive to meaningfully and durably improve the lives of the global poor," and served on the boards of the Center for Voter Information, the League of Conservation Voters and the Pipeline Initiative, which recruits and supports progressive political candidates.

Simone CoxeSimone Coxe

Amount donated to LSR: $500,000

Coxe is an Austin philanthropist married to Tench Coxe, a billionaire venture capitalist and longtime board member of Nvidia. Simone Coxe cofounded a public relations firm for the tech industry, and she was the cofounder of CalMatters, a nonprofit news site covering California politics and policy. The couple donated $100 million to the University of Texas at Austin's academic medical center this year. They are part owners of Austin FC.

Don HenleyDon Henley

Amount donated to LSR: $150,000

Henley is a Grammy award-winning musician and founding member of The Eagles, which was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1998. He is an East Texas native who has supported numerous Democratic groups and candidates this cycle. Henley founded the Walden Woods Project in 1990, which "preserves the land, literature and legacy of Henry David Thoreau to foster an ethic of environmental stewardship and social responsibility," and the Caddo Lake Institute in East Texas, which focuses on protecting the wetlands area that straddles the Texas-Louisiana border.

Susan SarofimSusan Sarofim

Amount donated to LSR: $100,000

Sarofim is a Houston businesswoman, philanthropist and widow of billionaire investment manager Fayez Sarofim. She founded a temp agency in 1989, owns New Orleans Auction Galleries, and cofounded To Educate All Children, a nonprofit that offers class management programming to Houston and Aldine Independent School District educators....

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...Then, in January, another organization staged a splashy launch: the Bench, advertising a supposed mission of “changing the Democratic Party from the inside.” The Bench promised to “help strong candidates launch with the tools they need to succeed — from communications and digital strategy to fundraising and staffing — so they can focus on what matters most: talking with voters and winning tough races.”

The Bench has endorsed a broad slate of candidates, including McMorrow in Michigan, James Talarico in Texas, Josh Turek in Iowa, Angie Craig in Minnesota, and Conley in New York.

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Although they are separate entities on paper, with slightly different organizational structures, Majority Democrats and the Bench share a deeply interlinked fundraising apparatus and ground game.

In March, for example, Majority Democrats announced a nationwide “Built to Last Tour,” featuring several Bench-endorsed candidates.

While those operations hit the campaign trail, the Searchlight Institute, a new center-left D.C. think tank founded in part with London’s financial assistance, has served as the policy brain trust for both groups’ positions on various issues, seemingly shaping the platforms of their endorsed campaigns.

For instance, in March, McMorrow’s campaign in Michigan released its platform on data centers — a plan that mirrored a Searchlight Institute white paper recommending “data center developers pay their way,” a tech-friendly alternative to the moratoriums on data center development that some lawmakers are advancing.

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rww

04/13/2026

by

Peter Montgomery

Religious-right leaders have been spent decades trying to get more Christians engaged in politics. So are they excited about a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate who is a Christian and a seminarian who speaks fluently about how his faith informs his politics? Hell no.

From the moment that Texas state legislator and former public school teacher James Talarico won the March 3 Democratic primary—and even before—right-wing Christian nationalists have been attacking Talarico. It’s not hard to understand why. Talarico is an effective speaker who is comfortable talking about his faith while promoting LGBTQ equality and reproductive choice and challenging his Republican colleagues. When Talarico appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast last summer, the host who endorsed Trump in 2024 encouraged him to run for president.

Polls show that Talarico is currently running neck-and-neck with either of the two Republicans who are battling each other in a runoff that will be held in May. That means he is drawing support from millions of Christian Democrats and Independents.

That is unacceptable to Christian-right leaders who have tried to make supporting Donald Trump and voting for Republicans an article of faith. To undermine Talarico’s appeal, they are attacking his faith as well as his politics.

In other words, the same people who are quick to cry “religious persecution” when their political goals or tactics are criticized have no problem denouncing the faith of a fellow Christian who disagrees with their political positions.

Indeed, they take it on themselves to decide who counts as a “real Christian” based on whether a person is aligned with their religious and political worldview. And they viciously smear anyone who isn’t part of the conservative wing of the Republican Party.

The attacks on Talarico are adding to the evidence that Christian nationalists’ religious bigotry and intolerance does not only extend to non-Christians.

Here are just some of the examples we’ve seen in the past month:

Brooks Potteiger, pastor of the church that Christian nationalist Doug Wilson planted in DC to take advantage of his relationship with Pete Hegseth and boost his influence among Christians in the Trump administration, and Joshua Haymes made news in March when they called Talarico’s theology demonic and deceitful. They said they hoped that God would “crucify him” in Christ—a metaphor for a spiritual overhaul. But Haynes added that if that wasn’t part of the plan God should “stop him by any means necessary.”

Wilson, whose vision for a Christian republic includes legal discrimination against non-Christians and liberal Christians, denounced Talarico as “a death angel from Texas,” explaining that “A death cult is any manner of life conducted outside Jesus Christ.”

One of the most Talarico-obsessed Christian-right figures is Gary Bauer, who has been pushing toxic right-wing politics since the days when he urged Ronald Reagan not to let any gay people serve on the first AIDS commission because it would insult conservative Christians. Bauer publishes a daily email newsletter that he has used to repeatedly go after Talarico.

In one of his diatribes, Bauer called Talarico the “poster boy” for “the concerted effort by the Democrat Party to steal the Gospel of Jesus to sell Marxism and moral depravity.” Bauer has called Talarico “far-left” and flat-out lied about Talarico’s position on border security, falsely claiming that he wants “open borders.” Bearing false witness, anyone?

There’s more.

Dominionist James Garlow’s Well Versed newsletter urged people to “beware” of the “heretical” Talarico. The Blaze’s far-right Steve Deace declared “James Talarico is going to be Legion” and called him “an object and a vessel of malevolence.” Anti-Islam author Michael Youssef denounced Talarico and progressive Christianity as “false gospels.”

Texas pastor Daniel Hayworth used the platform of the right-wing Human Events to call Talarico a wicked wolf in sheep’s clothing. Heyworth is married to the daughter of the notoriously corrupt GOP attorney general and is promoting his Senate candidacy.

Even Trump himself couldn’t resist getting in on the Talarico-bashing, charging on social media that Talarico was insulting Jesus. Talarico responded, “You want to know what insults Jesus? Kicking the sick off their healthcare while cutting taxes for billionaires. You know what insults Jesus? Deporting the stranger and separating babies from their mothers. You know what insults Jesus? Bombing innocent schoolchildren in Iran and sending our brave men and women off to die in another forever war.”

MAGA podcaster Eric Metaxas declared Talarico “diabolical” and a “fake Christian” during a conversation with right-wing author Megan Basham. Basham declared that Talarico is “not a Christian,” claiming that it wasn’t enough that Talarico affirms the historic Nicene Creed, saying “Satan could affirm the Nicene creed.” She claimed that Talarico is a “rank heretic” who has “antichrist views” and that “scripture commands us” not to treat him as a Christian brother. Metaxas and Masham bashed Christian journalists and publications that have treated Talarico and his Christian witness respectfully, going so far as to question their Christianity. “Any true Christian,” she claimed would denounce Talarico as a non-Christian heretic.

It is surely a disappointment to Metaxas and Basham that they don’t actually speak for all Christians. As polling suggests, Talarico’s message is resonating with plenty of Christians in Texas and elsewhere, including many who are tired of seeing their faith used to prop up Donald Trump and welcome a strong Christian critique of right-wing Christian nationalism.

David French, for example, wrote a New York Times op ed on Talarico’s appeal. Here’s an excerpt:

This miserable political moment won’t end when the left takes back the government from the right or if the right continues to beat the left. It will end when our politicians — especially Christian politicians — forsake cruelty for compassion and realize that we shall know Christians in politics not by their stridency and ideology, but by their integrity and love, including their love for, as Talarico put it, “all of our neighbors.”

That’s the significance of the Talarico moment — not the old news that a Christian can be progressive, but rather that Christian politicians can actually act like Christians. Kindness still has a place in the public square, even if it doesn’t always seem that way.

Among the Christian journalists whose openness to Talarico engrages Metaxas and Basham is Mike Cosper, a writer and producer who said on a Christianity Today podcast, “As evangelicals, there’s something good about seeing certain aspects of Christianity represented in the public square in the way that I think Talarico is doing it. I’m more encouraged by Talarico’s expression of Christianity in the public square than by a lot of what we’ve seen in MAGA world.”

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RWW

03/06/2026

by

Kyle Mantyla

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mma

  1. ### Newsmax host says Democratic Texas state Rep. James Talarico is a “freak” who “uses fake sermons and fake passages from the Bible”

03/05/26

mma

Right-wing media attack James Talarico for his Christian faith and beliefs: “He’s not a minister, he’s blasphemous”

Written by Sophie Lawton

:{:{Published 03/05/26}:

Texas Democrat James Talarico is under attack by the right for his faith, with right-wing media figures particularly zeroing in on his views on abortion and LGBTQ issues to claim he is a “fake Christian” whose beliefs are “straight up demonic.” Following Talarico’s victory in the March 3 Senate primary against Rep. Jasmine Crockett, right-wing media immediately began railing against Talarico’s Christian faith, focusing on old videos of him supporting abortion rights and discussing his belief God is a nonbinary figure.

Talarico, an aspiring minister in seminary school, has been connecting his Christian faith and politics throughout his time in the Texas House of Representatives and on the campaign trail. His comments have drawn ire from Republican politicians like state Rep. Jeff Leach, who said Talarico “isn’t reading the same Bible I’m reading. And his ‘values’ couldn’t be more unTexan."

Right-wing media figures have taken up the hostility toward Talarico’s religious views, calling him “blasphemous” and “straight up demonic." Other examples of commentary from right-wing media figures about include:

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RWW

Robert Knight warns that Christian Democratic politicians like Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and Texas state Rep, James Talarico are wolves in sheep's clothing. 3 26

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colbert told to not have tex xian talarico sp so YT

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seminary ; 5th? 8 th gen tex = mexico

he was good; up dn vs left rt

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Texas State Representative James Talarico (D‑Round Rock) denounced on Tuesday what he labeled as a partisan “power grab” by Texas Republicans, triggered by an exchange during a recent Fox News appearance.

In a post on the social platform X, Talarico wrote: “I just went on Fox News to tell the truth about the redistricting power grab in Texas."

Sharing a clip from the show, the lawmaker recounted confronting host Will Cain by asking, “If Republican policies are so popular, why do they need to redraw these maps; why not run on their policies?”

READ MORE:Ex-GOP staffer says institutions can stop Trump's 'shakedowns' by following these 2 rules

Talarico said his question went unanswered, and that the host ended the interview prematurely.

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"I'm getting wrapped on time," the host said, before apologizing and ending the segment.

Democrats have been pushing back against the GOP’s aggressive push for mid‑decade redistricting — a strategy widely interpreted as an attempt to solidify Republican advantage ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

Meanwhile, Texas House Democrats who departed the state to block a vote on the proposed congressional maps are contemplating a return to Texas after the current special session gavels out, ABC station KTRK and ABC News reported on Tuesday.

READ MORE:'Affront to the Great Leader': How Trump is closely following 'the authoritarian canon'

In a Tuesday news release, without offering specific return details — the House Democrats declared victory, saying that they "have killed this corrupt special session on behalf of Texas families -- exactly what we said we'd do when we left the state."

Watch the video below or at this link.

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