James
Talarico.
At the end
of June, I wrote briefly about Ken Paxton and James Talarico. I stated that
hoped to eventually get around to posting a fuller exposure of his heresies. I
found that to be a very extensive subject, in which one can become bogged quickly
and deeply.
Who is
James Talarico?
James
Talarico is a 37-year-old former school teacher, a Texas politician serving in
the state House of Representatives, a Presbyterian seminarian (Austin
Presbyterian Theological Seminary),[i] and apparently a so-called
minister (or ministerial candidate) in the Presbyterian Church USA.[ii] He was born May 17, 1989,
in Round Rock, Texas, and was elected to the Texas House of Representatives from
that area (District 50) in 2018.[iii] He is now the Democratic
nominee running for the U.S. Senate in the November 2026 election, facing
Republican nominee Ken Paxton (and several other “minor” candidates). He
defeated U.S. Representative Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary.
What does
he believe?
James
Talarico presents himself to the world, the state, and the electorate as a
Christian.[iv] So, what does he believe?
Salvation
is not in Christ Alone.
Fullness of God in helpless babe.
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save;
’Til on that cross as Jesus died
The wrath of God was satisfied;
For ev’ry sin on him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live. (Keith Getty and Stuart Townend)
James Talarico’s “Christian” beliefs were formulated under radical social gospel pastor Jim Rigby in the ultra-liberal St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in the liberal PCUSA denomination. He does not believe Jesus is the only way of salvation, but that “other religions of love point to the same truth. I think of different religious traditions as different languages. So, you and I could sit here and debate what to call this cup and you could call it a cup in English. You’d call it something else in Spanish and French. But we are all talking about the same reality. I believe Jesus Christ reveals that reality to us. But I also think that other traditions reveal that reality in their own ways with their own symbol structures. And I’ve learned more about my tradition by learning more about Buddhism and Hinduism and Islam and Judaism. And so, I see these beautiful faith traditions as circling the same truth about the universe, about the cosmos.”[v]
His “faith
journey.”
Talarico shared
his “faith journey” on the “Holy Post Podcast.” In sync with his inclusivist
soteriological view, it is a social “faith journey,” with no testimony of
salvation by faith in Jesus Christ.
“My
granddad was a Baptist preacher uh in South Texas in the town of Laredo, which
is right on the Texas Mexico border. And you know he very much instilled in me
when I was younger that Christianity is a simple religion, not an easy
religion. He would always clarify; but a simple religion because Jesus gave us
those two commandments to love God and love neighbor. And so that the greatest
commandment was kind of my initial understanding of this religion that I grew
up in. And I think it’s that commitment to love my neighbors is what moved me
toward public service. First, as a public-school teacher on the west side of
San Antonio and now as a state legislator. (Moderator, Skye Jethani: was there
ever a time growing up where you were, despite your grandfather’s positive
influence, no doubt, where you were second-guessing this, contemplating not
committing to a Christian faith, moving into a different direction?) [Talarico:]
You know, I didn’t. And I’m kind of like the kid in the group who had healthy
parents with a good marriage growing up and like I don’t have all the same
trauma that a lot of my peers do. Not only was my granddad a positive
influence, but I was so blessed to grow up in an incredible church that I
actually still belong to today, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church. I’ll give them
a shout out on here – led by our pastor, Reverend Dr. Jim Rigby. Dr. Jim, as I
grew up calling him. And he baptized me when I was two years old. He actually
performed the marriage ceremony between my parents with me standing right there
next to them. And he was he really took that idea of loving God and loving
neighbor to its logical conclusion which is social action and activism. And so,
you know, I grew up in a very socially active church. My first protest I ever
went to was with my fellow congregants outside the Texas Governor’s Mansion
when I was in fourth grade. It was after James Bird and Matthew Shepard had
been killed in 1998. And it was a protest for hate crimes legislation in the
state of Texas. Later, I joined protests against the Iraq war when I was in
middle school again with the members of my church; and you know our church has
kind of been known for causing good trouble. We ordained gay and lesbian clergy
in the 1990s, which again doesn’t seem like it would be as controversial in
2025 but in the 1990s it was it almost ripped our church apart. In fact, Dr.
Jim was put on trial by the Presbyterian Church, by our denomination. And
thankfully, we were able to defend ourselves and hold on to our church. But
that didn’t stop him from causing more trouble. He allowed an open atheist to
join our congregation in the 2000s. He then in the 2010s provided sanctuary to
an undocumented mother and son fleeing violence in Guatemala and who were
threatened by ICE with deportation. That mom and that son are still living in
our church today, almost ten years later. So, I just I was so lucky that I was
brought up in a church that really understood what kind of the radical
dangerous love of Jesus Christ means, in the United States of America and I
feel like that was a gift that not a lot of people are given.”[vi]
Salvation
through social justice.
“Matthew
25 tells us exactly how we’re going to be judged and how we’re going to be
saved. By feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger
(which is more timely now than it’s ever been before). There’s nothing in
Matthew 25 about reading your Bible. There’s nothing about going to church.
There’s nothing about being a good Christian. It is all about how you treat
other people. And so I’ve met a lot of people from different faith traditions,
people who aren’t religious at all, who embody that teaching better than some
of the really loud Christians that we have in public office.”[vii]
Things become
clear that Talarico is depending on good works for salvation and not Jesus
Christ himself. Good works are salvation, not just the fruit of it, and so
people in all faith traditions – or not at all – can be saved by doing good
deeds (at least the good deeds Talarico and the progressive left deem correct).
Yet the Bible records, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). If every religion
leads to God and salvation, then Jesus’s death on the cross was an unnecessary
and drastic mistake!
God is “non-binary.”
Texas
State Representative James Talarico said the following during debate on
transgender legislation in the Texas House in 2021: “God is non-binary.” He made
the following remarks during a Texas House Public Education Committee hearing,
saying, “modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two
biological sexes; in fact, there are six. …I want us to all be aware of
recognize [sic] is that modern science obviously recognizes that there are many
more than two biological sexes. In fact, there are six. … The point is that
biologically speaking, scientifically speaking, sex is a spectrum, and
oftentimes can be very ambiguous.[viii] He also
said that “The first two lines of the Bible, the first two lines in Genesis,
use two different Hebrew words to describe God. One is the masculine Hebrew
noun for divinity. The second is the feminine Hebrew noun for spirit. God is
both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.”
Realize
that Talarico is not merely saying that God is not a human like we are. He is
using “non-binary” in a “genderqueer” context discussing people who identify
with a mix of genders, no gender, or a fluctuating gender. Bible-believers
don’t need James Talarico’s nonsense to tell us what we already knew, that God
is not male or female in the human sense. We already knew that, and knew it by
actually believing the Bible, unlike James Talarico. Additionally, Talarico is
being deceptive about the use of Hebrew words, which – if he actually knows
Hebrew – he knows that, unlike English, has “gender” nouns that are part of its
grammar, irrespective of actual gender in human terms. Like Spanish (which some
of you know) nouns – including people, places, animals, things, even ideas and
feelings – have a gender (male or female). For Talarico to use Genesis 1 as he
did is deceptive (Revelation 12:9). And none of his blather changes the fact
that God made man male and female (Genesis 1:27). To use a deranged image of
God as a “mascot” for gender confusion is demonic. Running on a larger stage, Talarico
has later tried to clarify that he just meant that God transcends human gender
categories.[ix] Again, we knew that
before he started (Isaiah 46:9). When he made this “clarification,” he actually
contradicted his original use of trying to use God to define human gender
categories!! What is most clear is that James Talarico is quite willing to
twist Scripture to try to make it “walk on all fours” to support his radical
religious and political views.
Transgender
men need abortion rights too.
“This
summer, more than half our population became second-class citizens. Every one
of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the state. And nothing –
nothing – is more unchristian than that. Before we go further, I want to
acknowledge that our trans community needs abortion care, too. Defending trans
Texans is something we have to do every day at the state capital. And you
better believe I’ll be giving sermons on that, too. (Laughter) So, when I use
the word woman, it should not be understood as an exhaustive term but rather as
a lens through which to understand, examine, and interrogate patriarchy.”[x]
What
contradictory nonsense! “Every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the
property of the state,” but oh, wait, those who don’t have a uterus are women
too!! In summary, James Talarico believes that abortion is a moral right, Genital
mutilation (“changing sexes”) is also a moral right, “changing sexes” is
possible, “changing sexes” is good, Ttanssexuals need the right kill their
babies in the womb – and these views are important to be preached at “church.”
Worst
Mariology yet.[xi]
In the
James Talarico version of politics and religion, the virgin birth becomes a
promo for abortion.
“Jesus
didn’t just come from a woman, Jesus came from a revolutionary. Mary’s story is
possibly my favorite story in all of scripture. An unwed peasant girl living
under an oppressive empire brings God into the world, and when she does she
sings a song of revolution. She says her act of creation will scatter the
proud, bring rulers down from their Throne, lift up the lowly, feed the hungry,
and send the rich away empty. She says her act of creation will bring freedom
into the world. But if her act is to bring freedom it has to be done freely.
So, in the story we just read together the angel of God tells Mary that she, a
powerless woman, will bring the power of the universe into existence. And then
Mary in what may be the first recorded verbal consent in human history, says
‘Behold I am the Lord’s servant, let it be done to me as you say.’ Let it be
done. Let It Be. ‘And I find myself in times of trouble Mother Mary comes to me
speaking words of wisdom Let It Be.’ (49:53) We only have Jesus because a woman
consented to creating him.”[xii]
“Mary is
probably my favorite figure in the Bible; the mother of Jesus and, you know,
she is an oppressed peasant teenage girl living in poverty under an oppressive
empire as a Jew. And she has a vision from God that she’s going to give birth
to a baby who’s going to bring the powerful down from their thrones, going to
scatter the proud, who’s going to send the rich away empty. I mean, this this
revolutionary song that she sings, it’s called the Magnificat. It’s actually
been banned by certain authoritarian regimes because it is so radical.”[xiii]
“I say all this in terms of, in context of
abortion because before God comes over Mary and we have the incarnation, God
asks for Mary’s consent – which is remarkable. I mean, go back and read this in
Luke. I mean, the angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something she wants
to do, and she says, ‘If it is God’s will, let it be done. Let it be. Let it
happen.’ So, to me that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories
that creation has to be done with consent.”
“You
cannot force someone to create. Creation is one of the most sacred acts that we
engage in as human beings. But that has to be done with consent. It has to be
done with freedom. And to me that is absolutely consistent with the ministry
and life and death of Jesus. And so that’s why I that’s how I come down on that
side of the issue [i.e., abortion, rlv].”[xiv]
Lies, misrepresentations,
and more lies. “I mean,” yes, surely, go back and read this in Luke. Please do!
Read Luke 1:26-38. The angel Gabriel appears to Mary, a virgin. What you will
find: The angel declares, “And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and
bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.” What you will not find: He
does not ask, “Um, are you willing let God use you to bring forth a son and
call his name Jesus?”
There are over sixty English Bible translations on BibleGateway.com. None of
them – even the most liberal translations – render this as anything but an
announcement to Mary. There is no question. Now consider further, his
conclusion, based on a false premise about God, is that “creation has to be
done with consent.” In the initial creation, did God get consent from anyone
other than himself? No. However, Talarico goes on to morph out of the idea of
creation and into the idea of destruction. So, he believes, that if “creation”
of a life is not done with consent, then consent to destruction of a life
follows. This is demonic theology.
Resurrection
or reincarnation, what’s the dif?
“And then
the last step is resurrection. that something new and beautiful rises from
those ashes. So those three things, incarnation, crucifixion, resurrection,
that’s the pattern of the universe. Again, just take religion out of it for a
second. Let’s just think like a physicist or a biologist. Creation,
destruction, recreation. I mean, that is the story of the physical universe. It’s
the story of our lives, right? That we are all headed toward a brick wall at
the end of this, right? There is birth, death, rebirth. Hindus would say
reincarnation. Right? This pattern of reality is something that’s recognized
across traditions. I say all this in response to your question because all of
us in our faith start off with order, disorder, and then reorder. If we get to
the that last step, all of us kind of inherited a faith from our parents. It
was usually pretty stable. We didn’t ask any questions. And it was comforting,
right? You were childish in the best in the best sense of that word, innocent.
You grow up, you have experiences, you meet new people, you’re exposed to new
ideas. Suddenly, you start to question all those things that you were taught.
And now you have disorder, disillusionment, right? That maybe what I was told
wasn’t real. Maybe there’s maybe ‘this isn’t right.’ Maybe I’ve got to question
everything. And that’s healthy. and essential. You need that crucifixion to
break apart what was there before. That third step of resurrection,
reincarnation, rebirth, reorder, however you want to describe it. To me, it
feels like that’s what we’re on the precipice of.”[xv]
What
confusing subjective mumbo jumbo! However you want to describe it. It’s all relative.
If you’re a Christian, call it resurrection. If you’re a Hindu, call it reincarnation.
Believe whatever you want to believe (as long as you vote to the left). In this
context, Talarico also made the crucifixion not an act of Jesus coming into the
world to die to save mankind, but rather Jesus being crucified “because he
confronts the powerful is executed on a cross a humiliating death along with
other criminals.”[xvi] He says
the same kind of thing in an interview with James Carville and Al Hunt: “…when
people were hurting his neighbors, he walked into the seat of power and he
flipped over the tables of injustice. That was a powerful example of nonviolent
direct-action protest and it’s what got him killed.”[xvii] Talarico’s theology of
Jesus’s death is not that he died for the sins of the world, but that he was a
revolutionary who confronted the wealth and power of the elite, and was killed
because of that.
God not
really God.
He is just
whatever is the ground of your own being, whatever you choose to believe. On Joe
Rogan’s podcast, Talarico said, “You can burn out if it’s not sustained by that
love of God. And again, I don’t mean God as that word is charged for a lot of
people. I don’t mean like a sectarian religious orthodoxy definition. I just
mean that ground of your being, whatever that is.”[xviii]
What did
he do?
In politics.
In running
for statewide office, Talarico especially touts his accomplishments in the areas
of education, juvenile justice, and healthcare – particularly emphasizing those
most likely to sit well with a wider audience. For example, he sponsored
legislation to cap insulin costs at $25 per month.[xix]
James
Talarico is one of the signed-on authors of House Bill 1044 (2025) “relating to
persons authorized to conduct a marriage ceremony.”[xx] Though an officer authorized
by any religious group may already perform marriages in Texas, only Christian
ministers and Jewish rabbis are specifically mentioned by name. This bill proposes
to add, Buddhist monk or priest; Hindu pundit; Muslim imam; Sikh granthi. This
bill is primarily a bill of “political correctness” that does not actually change
anything, and sits well with Talarico’s ecumenical views.
He is the
author of House Joint Resolution 204 (2025) “proposing a constitutional
amendment prohibiting the legislature from restricting an individual’s access
to abortion and related health care.”[xxi] This is followed up by House
Bill 5310 (2025) “repeal of certain laws regulating abortion and the construction
of abortion statutes.”[xxii] These were introduced, but did not pass.
In
general, Talarico is known for left-leaning progressive policy positions,
supporting them with appeals to “Christian faith,” and progressive positions
regarding gender and religion. Any with a mind to do so can spend time on the
House web site searching for legislation that James Talarico has written or
co-sponsored.
In
life.
In life
you can say one thing and do another. All of us do this at some time or
another. In “Politics War Room with James Carville and Al Hunt,” James Talarico
was out front with it as part of his schtick. First, James Carville said, “I
mean, you’re supposed to sell everything.” Talarico agreed, “That’s right.” Carville
continued, “and go out and live amongst the poor.” And Talarico agreed again, “That’s
right.” Finally, Talarico doubles down on Jesus saying this to us (though Jesus
didn’t say it to all, us, he said it to one man). He explains, “Jesus told us
to sell all our possessions and give the money to the poor. I have a home. I
have stuff. I got a car. I got a pickup truck that I like. You know, I got my
cell phone. Yeah. I got my Blazer. So, like I said, I’m not living up to the
radical teachings of Jesus Christ.”[xxiii]
Like
everyone else, what James Talarico does will not always line up with what he
says. Nevertheless, he rides high on the condemnation of those to the right of
him, often saying such things as “I have met so many Hindus,
Buddhists, Sikh, Jews, Muslims, atheists, agnostics, who are more Christlike
than some of the Christians I serve with in the Texas legislature.”[xxiv] Quite a judgment from
the “judge not” crowd – and dripping underneath with “I am holier than thou”
contempt, even though he as well does not practice what he preaches!
Where is
he now?
Vegan
to BBQ in 57.36.
Talarico
was a meat eater before he was a vegan, so he says. He now loves Texas BBQ.[xxv] In an earlier House
campaign stop, in April 2022 while speaking to the Texas Humane Legislation
Network, he talked about animal welfare and climate control (apparently because
when cows “break wind” it causes global warming), and then said, “It is now
existential that we try to reduce our meat consumption and that we try to
respect animals in all aspects of society. I am proud to say our campaign has
officially become a non-meat campaign. [Crowd cheers.] So, we are only buying
vegan products from our local vegan businesses.”
Rather
than bother to explain himself to thinking people in a way that makes sense of
this contradiction, Talarico expects us to just laugh and move on. Answering
the “vegan charge,” he quipped, “I’ve been eating BBQ since before Ken Paxton’s
first indictment.” [Now, everybody, laugh on cue.] I’ve heard him say this a
number of times (such as in a campaign stop in Nacogdoches, in the May 2026
interview with the liberal political group MeidasTouch, et al.). The joke does
not explain the contradiction. It is a “Wizard of Oz” moment, pay no attention
to the man behind the curtain. The candidate wants to be “non-meat” when speaking
to animal rights groups and “all-BBQ” when speaking to the average Texan.
To protect
or not protect.
One really
weird aspect of the campaign has been discussion of whether or not James
Talarico has a girlfriend. Lots of yapping about that, but here is something
that stood out to me. In a puff interview with Jamie Kern Lima, Talarico said
he had a girlfriend but he was keeping her behind the scenes because “there’s
just so many attacks coming at me, coming at my team…what I’m trying to do is
protect her.”[xxvi]
Within a couple of weeks, he revealed who she was. So much for protection, I
suppose. Politics reigns supreme.
Campaign
finance reform, or not.
“Here are
the megadonors and dark money groups boosting James Talarico’s anti-billionaire
Senate bid.” Talarico runs a campaign against billionaires – “I’ve led the
fight against the billionaire mega-donors that have rigged the system against
working Texas families” – but gladly takes money from those who want to support
him.[xxvii] Hypocrisy much?
These are
some brief examples of how Talarico seems not to be able to maintain a stable
position – but thinks we should not wonder about the contradictions.
Conclusion.
James
Talarico cloaks his political beliefs in spiritual rhetoric. He talks a lot
about Jesus, but he does not accept the inspiration, infallibility, and
authority of the Bible that Jesus wrote. The biblical positions he presents are
biblical nonsense. So far as I know, James Talarico has not issued any statement
on what he believes about the inspiration, accuracy, and inerrancy of the Bible.
It is highly unlikely that his belief varies far from that of his pastor, Jim
Rigby, who believes that the Bible is a patchwork of fragments that are
impossible to reconcile, “a wonderful and horrifying diary of a people trying
to figure out the meaning of it all.”[xxviii] This approach leaves folks
to pick and choose the parts they like and dismiss the rest. Yet Talarico tries
to nuance and parse his words to suggest he yields to the authority of the
Bible. He may say that every verse of Scripture should be interpreted through
the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, or that the Bible points us to
Christ and that Christ is our final authority. This may sound Christian or
biblical to the uninitiated. It may sound like it makes Jesus the standard.
However, it is a form of “Red Letter Christianity” that talks about Jesus
Christ as the final authority, but rather makes the one doing talking the final
authority! Jesus said Moses wrote the Pentateuch? Oh, no, we can’t have that.
Jesus said Jonah was in the belly of a whale? Certainly that can’t be! Jesus
only appointed male apostles? Away with such an idea! Wait, Jesus said something
about “love” or “judge not” or “social justice.” Yes, that is what we are
looking for. We’ll run with that. Talarico’s bizarre claims include: God is non-binary,
there are six biological sexes, transgender men need abortion rights, Jesus was
a feminist, Mary was a revolutionary and a poster child for “bodily autonomy,”
the teachings of Jesus do not cover homosexuality or abortion, the Gospel of
Thomas was “later omitted from the Bible,” and salvation is not only through
Jesus Christ, but all faith traditions lead to salvation (though believers know
that Jesus said, “if ye believe not that I am he, ye shall die in your sins”). Over
and over again, James Talarico’s views, judged by the Bible that Jesus wrote,
are heretical! Oddly, he charges others to the right with being Christian
nationalists, but he also wants a “Christian nation” – just so long as it
implements his version of what is “Christian.”
I must
close. James Talarico talks so much that it would take a book to address all he
has said. Leading up to the November general election, some folks assert that
Talarico has recanted or retracted a number of his past statements. It is true
that he has tried to “walk back” some things he has said. Here is my current feeling
about his recantation incantations. I do not trust politicians who govern and vote
one way and then run for office another way. Until there is some proof
otherwise, to me any retractions are just talk, in this case a necessary
political device to help in a campaign that has gone statewide and must appeal
to a different and wider range of voters that he did not need to connect with
in his House races. I don’t trust a man who tries to change horses mid-stream.
I will believe and act on what I believe, that his attempt to rehabilitate his
views for the statewide race is the very definition of a political liar rather
than an honest statesman.
James
Talarico redefines God, reforms man, reinterprets Christ, rewrites the Bible,
replaces the Gospel, and reveals a mutilated sterilized trans-Christian
religion without salvation or a Saviour. He is not a Christian. He has invented
a religion or at least accepted a religion invented by others. It is a new and
different religion that cannot be called Christianity.
[ii] I could not find him in the PCUSA Minister Directory. However, he seems to present himself as a ministers, and preaches to the St. Andrews congregation.
[iii] As a representative, he currently sits on the following committees: Public Education, Juvenile Justice and Family Issues, and Calendars.
[iv] At Baptist News Global – no bastion of conservatism and actually on the progressive wing among Baptists – Joe Marlow writes that James Talarico has fallen prey to “The progressive temptation: Scripture as self‑expression… The Bible becomes a mirror for modern intuitions rather than a world that forms our desires…Talarico’s approach, like much of progressive Christianity, reverses this order. It treats Scripture as raw material for self‑expression. It collapses transcendence into sentiment. It offers comfort without conversion.” https://baptistnews.com/article/how-left-and-right-misuse-scripture-in-an-age-of-moral-confusion/
[v] January 23, 2026, interview on “The Ezra Klein Show,” 11:02:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sa6fiO2EgJ4
[vi] August 27, 2925, interview on “Holy Post Podcast,” 1:02:55. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IB5WfvfZsK0
[vii] February 13, 2026, interview on Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt, 13:06:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS51nua9Utc He also talks about Matthew 25 in his Late Show interview with Stephen Colbert (CBS, February 16, 2026, 4:58:00. “They’ve 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 every one of our fellow believers how we’re 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.” But the Bible and Jesus do talk about marriage and sexuality. Matthew 19:4-5, he makes it very obvious what is the definition of marriage, going back to the Genesis account. Man and woman, no homosexuality. No murder, therefore no abortion (cf. Luke 17:1-2). Also notice James Talarico skips over what he does not like in Matthew 25, and focuses on what he can twist into “how we’re going to be judged and how we’re going to be saved.” If I had to guess, I suspect he does not believe in fire or everlasting punishment, mentioned in Matthew 25 (unless possibly on conservatives who vote Republican).
[viii] April 20, 2021, James Talarico these remarks during a Texas House Public Education Committee hearing regarding a bill (SB 29).
[ix] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsgLJk-HpEo
[x] October 2, 2022, message, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Wells Port Drive, Austin, Texas, 36:51:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhHPiWtIs8Q
[xi] Mariology is the branch of Christian theology dedicated to the study of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
[xii] October 2, 2022, message, St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, Wells Port Drive, Austin, Texas, 48:30:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NhHPiWtIs8Q
[xiii] Interview on the Joe Rogan Experience # 2352, 23:11:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
[xiv] Interview on the Joe Rogan Experience # 2352, 23:50:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
[xv] Interview on the Joe Rogan Experience # 2352, 41:20:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
[xvi] Interview on the Joe Rogan Experience # 2352, 41:07:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
[xvii] Interview on Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt, 11:44:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS51nua9Utc
[xviii] Interview on the Joe Rogan Experience # 2352, 46:38:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jOGPvMftb8
[xix] Talarico himself is diagnosed with type 1 diabetes.
[xx] https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB1044
[xxi] https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HJR204
[xxii] https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/Text.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=HB5310
[xxiii] February 13, 2026, interview on Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt, 9:47:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS51nua9Utc This is not just a lark, but part of his rhetoric. He said the same on January 23, 2026, interview on The Ezra Klein Show: (21:12:00) “…Sell all your possessions and give the money to the poor.” Apparently it is okay for Talarico to not live up to the teachings of Christ while railing on others for not living up to the teachings of Christ.
[xxiv] February 13, 2026, interview on Politics War Room with James Carville & Al Hunt, 12:39:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS51nua9Utc
[xxv] May 14, 2026, interview with Jamie Kern Lima, 57:36:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rlr3vA6F5M&t=3724s
[xxvi] May 14, 2026, interview with Jamie Kern Lima, 49:58:00. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Rlr3vA6F5M&t=3724s
[xxvii] https://jamestalarico.com/meet-james-talarico/
[xxviii] https://www.facebook.com/groups/progressivemethodists/posts/714704058633069/; https://www.facebook.com/groups/progressivemethodists/posts/697671860336289/.
