James Talarico: Can he win a Texas Senate seat in November? The Republicans’ nerves are on edge.Image: keystone
Mar 23, 2026, 7:06 p.mMar 23, 2026, 7:28 p.m
Obama calls it “great – a really talented young man” and Pete Hegseth’s pastor prays for his death: James Talarico’s star in the US political sky is currently rising like a meteor – or in modern German: It’s currently going viral. But who is the young man who is being beaten by all the conservative forces as if he were an emissary of the incarnate?
James Talarico is currently “just” a member of the Texas Parliament. The legislature of the second largest state in the USA also consists of two chambers. The 36-year-old has occupied one of the 150 seats in the House of Representatives since 2018. Talarico is still a political lightweight – but his words already have weight. This is because of his social media appearances.
The former middle school teacher with a Harvard degree went viral for the first time in 2023. He of all people, who was still training to be a pastor at the time, argued against a law that required a poster of the Ten Commandments in all school rooms in Texas: “The law is not only unconstitutional, it is not only un-American, I believe it is also deeply un-Christian,” he explained. «I say this because I believe that the law is idolatry; it’s exclusionary and it’s arrogant. These three things, as I understand the gospel, are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus.”
To date, the chain of arguments has been liked over 1.2 million times on TikTok and shared over 100,000 times – and Talarico keeps making statements of this caliber:
«We as Christians are called to do more than just do charity. We are called to question the systems that make charity necessary in the first place.”
«Loving your enemy is not only morally right, it is not only idealistic. It’s also good strategic advice.”
“We are taking on these billionaire donors and their puppet politicians. We are fighting a rigged system. And we’re up against a lot of money. But I’m a former middle school teacher, I’m not easily intimidated.”
For the son of a single mother, Christianity is always at the center of his argument. Celebrating the Bible right down to the last page – he has now successfully completed his training as a pastor – he exposes the hypocrisy of the Trump administration. “Jesus was the immigrant who was deported without due process,” preaches Talarico. Simple words with a resounding impact. Anyone who talks like that and generates millions of clicks will end up with Joe Rogan sooner rather than later.
The conservative Rogan is still the most influential talker in the USA. Although visibly distant, the president-maker was impressed by Talarico – so impressed that he even advised him to run for president: “We need someone like you, someone who is a really good person.”
That was last summer. But not all conservatives are as easy to fool as Joe Rogan. These others now trained their turrets on Talarico. Nevertheless, he defeated the no less well-known Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic Senate primary in Texas. Crockett, for her part, caused a stir in the House of Representatives in Washington last year and gained a lot of popularity. Talarico’s victory was correspondingly astonishing. Since then, the Republicans have fired at him even more frequently.
The first thing the Republican senators tried was their X account with a deepfake: Using AI, the Republican Party created a virtual Talarico. They had old tweets with controversial positions read out: “Radicalized white men are the greatest domestic terrorism threat in our country.” They are words that Republicans hope could hurt moderate conservative circles.
If the means of deepfake is already in the basement, a so-called clergyman proved that it goes even deeper. Enter Joshua Haymes. The conspiracy theorist and pastor tries to be a religious voice in the manosphere and hosts the podcast “Reformation Red Pill”. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth is a member of his church. «I pray that God kills him. “That means his heart will be killed – and that he will be raised to new life with Jesus… and if not, then he should be stopped by any means possible,” he said.
The last statement in particular is interpreted as a call for murder. With his crusade against Christian nationalist circles, Talarico quickly made many very nervous enemies.
When comedian Stephen Colbert wanted to invite the young man onto his show, CBS buckled under the pressure and had the 15-minute segment cut from the show. Only a few media professionals can offer such an intervention in the program – Stephen Colbert is not one of them. In his show he happily referred to his YouTube channel. The interview can be seen in full length there.
Once again the Streisand effect proved true. This means that trying to cover something up will actually bring more publicity to the matter. Talarico went viral again. In the best case scenario, videos on Colbert’s YouTube channel reach three million views. Talarico managed almost ten.
Yesterday the US President was also forced to comment on the Talarico case. In a long post he blasphemes about his positions. It is doubtful that the young Democrat will score points with the hard Trump core. However, it is also questionable how great Trump’s influence is outside of this circle. The damage to Talarico is likely to be limited.
Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform
image: screenshot truth social
Texas is currently represented in the Senate by two Republicans, Ted Cruz and John Cornyn. Cornyn will have to defend his seat against Talarico in the November midterms. The youngster is already ahead in the surveys. However, his only mortgage is a significant one. And it is difficult to eradicate: Talarico has no better half, no wife and no husband. The Republican sleuths will have already sniffed out a lead. So it’s likely to get even dirtier.
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