Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico, who is challenging Republican Attorney General Ken Paxton this November, sparked controversy after claiming in a podcast interview that his Christian faith leads him to support keeping government out of abortion decisions. Talarico, who studied at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, argued that Jesus never mentioned abortion and the Bible is silent on the issue, so Christians must interpret Scripture as a whole. He said he trusts Texas women to make decisions about their bodies in consultation with family, doctors, and faith leaders, adding that the state’s abortion ban wrongly prevents victims of rape and incest from accessing abortions.
The comments drew strong backlash from prominent conservative Christians. Franklin Graham called Talarico’s claim “an absolute lie,” citing Exodus 20:13 (“You shall not murder”) and Jeremiah 1:5 (“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you”), arguing that abortion constitutes the taking of innocent human life. Students for Life president Kristan Hawkins accused Talarico of “spiritual gaslighting” and “perversion of the Gospel,” emphasizing that Scripture clearly values preborn life and warns against harming children. Broadcaster Glenn Beck labeled Talarico a “wolf in sheep’s clothing,” pointing to biblical passages affirming the humanity of the unborn and historical condemnations of child sacrifice. Beck also warned Texas Republicans not to underestimate Talarico, predicting heavy Democratic funding for his campaign and urging strong voter turnout to prevent Texas from flipping to Democrats.
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT (source: Jaime Kern Lima Youtube)
2:57
2 minutes, 57 seconds I want to [music] talk about your stance on abortion. Yeah. As a Presbyterian seminarian. Yeah.3:05
3 minutes, 5 seconds What are your views clearly and how have you arrived at them [music] from a biblical perspective?3:12
3 minutes, 12 seconds I trust Texas women to make decisions about their own bodies to shape their own destinies in consultation [music]3:21
3 minutes, 21 seconds with their family members, their doctors, their faith leaders. I don’t believe that’s [music] a place for government. That’s a belief I hold not3:30
3 minutes, 30 seconds despite my faith, but because of my faith. Jesus never talks about abortion.3:36
3 minutes, 36 seconds The Bible is silent on abortion. And when that happens with a social issue as important as abortion, we Christians3:44
3 minutes, 44 seconds have to take scripture [music] as a whole and we’ve got to try to make some kind of ethical determination.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
James Dell Talarico born May 17, 1989) is an American politician and educator who has served since 2018 as a member of the Texas House of Representatives. He is the Democratic nominee in the 2026 U.S. Senate election in Texas.
Born in Round Rock, Texas, Talarico graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 2011, and from Harvard University with a Master of Education degree in education policy in 2016. Before entering politics, Talarico was a middle-school English teacher and an executive director for an education nonprofit. He is serving his fourth term in the Texas House of Representatives, having first been elected in 2018. While serving in the Texas House, Talarico earned his Master of Divinity at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
In 2025, he announced his candidacy for the United States Senate in 2026. He defeated U.S. representative Jasmine Crockett in the Democratic primary and will face Republican candidate Ken Paxton in the general election.
Talarico is a Presbyterian. He is active in St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin. As of May 2026, Talarico has been in a four-year relationship with his former chief of staff.
