WEBVTT

00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.399
So I want to start with something that just happened

00:00:03.399 --> 00:00:08.039
literally like two days ago. And it's one of

00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:10.019
those stories that sounds like it's from a movie

00:00:10.019 --> 00:00:13.160
script. The Colbert thing. Right. It's just it's

00:00:13.160 --> 00:00:15.679
wild. It's completely wild. So picture this.

00:00:16.140 --> 00:00:18.300
You've got a politician. He's scheduled to go

00:00:18.300 --> 00:00:20.719
on a huge late night talk show. National audience.

00:00:20.820 --> 00:00:23.519
The kind of exposure that campaigns. You know,

00:00:23.519 --> 00:00:25.160
there's been millions trying to get. The big

00:00:25.160 --> 00:00:27.480
leagues. The late show with Stephen Colbert.

00:00:27.559 --> 00:00:30.820
Exactly. The big leagues. And then, less than

00:00:30.820 --> 00:00:33.399
48 hours before he's supposed to be on set, the

00:00:33.399 --> 00:00:35.700
whole thing gets shut down. The network lawyers

00:00:35.700 --> 00:00:38.119
call the show and say, nope. He can't come on.

00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:40.700
It's just it's so rare for that to happen so

00:00:40.700 --> 00:00:42.659
publicly. Usually if a guest gets blunt and you

00:00:42.659 --> 00:00:44.820
hear, you know, scheduling conflict, it's quiet.

00:00:45.000 --> 00:00:47.439
This is not quiet. No, this was February 16th,

00:00:47.439 --> 00:00:50.920
2026. The politician is James Tirico, Texas state

00:00:50.920 --> 00:00:52.619
representative who's running for U .S. Senate.

00:00:53.079 --> 00:00:55.939
And the reason for the cancellation, according

00:00:55.939 --> 00:00:58.359
to Colbert himself, this is what's so chilling.

00:00:58.399 --> 00:01:01.380
Yeah. The lawyer cited intensifying pressure

00:01:01.380 --> 00:01:04.079
from the Trump administration. I mean, stop and

00:01:04.079 --> 00:01:06.480
think about that phrase. Intensifying pressure.

00:01:07.219 --> 00:01:11.920
It's so loaded. And it immediately creates this

00:01:11.920 --> 00:01:14.439
incredible narrative. It's the Streisand effect

00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:17.299
on like a national scale. Yeah. If you tell people

00:01:17.299 --> 00:01:19.439
they can't see something, it's the only thing

00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.219
they want to see. Oh, absolutely. And if you're

00:01:21.219 --> 00:01:23.439
trying to design a marketing campaign for a relatively

00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:26.019
unknown state rep, you couldn't have engineered

00:01:26.019 --> 00:01:28.790
a better launch pad. CBS just handed him a golden

00:01:28.790 --> 00:01:31.450
ticket. They really did. Because Colbert, to

00:01:31.450 --> 00:01:33.969
his credit, didn't just let it go. He didn't

00:01:33.969 --> 00:01:36.269
just quietly put on some actor to talk about

00:01:36.269 --> 00:01:38.430
their new movie. He went rogue. He went totally

00:01:38.430 --> 00:01:40.609
rogue. He went on air. He explained what happened.

00:01:40.730 --> 00:01:42.689
And then he just posted the entire pre -taped

00:01:42.689 --> 00:01:45.189
interview on YouTube anyway. Which turns it from

00:01:45.189 --> 00:01:48.790
a routine interview into, like, forbidden knowledge.

00:01:49.230 --> 00:01:51.810
The interview they didn't want you to see. And

00:01:51.810 --> 00:01:55.780
the numbers are just staggering. As of this morning,

00:01:55.900 --> 00:01:59.799
that quote -unquote banned interview has 4 .5

00:01:59.799 --> 00:02:03.579
million views. Wow. It is the single most viewed

00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:06.379
segment on The Late Show's channel in over a

00:02:06.379 --> 00:02:09.539
year. So the attempt to silence him made him

00:02:09.539 --> 00:02:11.719
louder than he ever could have been on his own.

00:02:11.819 --> 00:02:14.939
It's a perfect backfire. It is. And it raises

00:02:14.939 --> 00:02:16.680
the central question, the one that got us interested

00:02:16.680 --> 00:02:19.780
in doing this deep dive. Who is James Tallarico?

00:02:20.219 --> 00:02:23.080
Who is this 36 -year -old state rep from Round

00:02:23.080 --> 00:02:27.039
Rock, Texas, that someone somewhere is apparently

00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:29.740
so afraid of? Right. What makes this guy so dangerous

00:02:29.740 --> 00:02:32.639
that a major network gets cold feet? And that

00:02:32.639 --> 00:02:34.659
is exactly what we're going to unpack today.

00:02:34.939 --> 00:02:37.620
Because this viral moment, it's just the tip

00:02:37.620 --> 00:02:40.719
of the iceberg. James Tallarico is, and I don't

00:02:40.719 --> 00:02:42.719
think this is an exaggeration, one of the most

00:02:42.719 --> 00:02:45.319
fascinating political experiments happening in

00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:47.419
America right now. He really is. But we should

00:02:47.419 --> 00:02:50.039
be clear, experiments can fail spectacularly.

00:02:50.039 --> 00:02:51.740
What he's trying to do, especially in a place

00:02:51.740 --> 00:02:53.419
like Texas, is something that most political

00:02:53.419 --> 00:02:55.539
consultants would probably tell you is, you know,

00:02:55.539 --> 00:02:57.900
political pseudocide. So let's define the experiment.

00:02:58.099 --> 00:02:59.740
He's a Democrat. Obviously, he's a former public

00:02:59.740 --> 00:03:02.900
school teacher. And this is the part that makes

00:03:02.900 --> 00:03:05.979
it all so unique. He's also a Presbyterian seminarian.

00:03:06.039 --> 00:03:08.680
The triple threat, as some have called it, politician,

00:03:09.099 --> 00:03:13.000
teacher and preacher. And he's weaving all three

00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.020
of those identities together to try and do something

00:03:16.020 --> 00:03:18.599
that Democrats have, for the most part, failed

00:03:18.599 --> 00:03:21.479
at for 40 years. He's trying to reclaim the language

00:03:21.479 --> 00:03:23.979
of faith from the Republican Party. Exactly.

00:03:24.379 --> 00:03:27.219
He's making a hostile takeover bid for morality

00:03:27.219 --> 00:03:29.879
and politics. He's running for the U .S. Senate.

00:03:29.960 --> 00:03:33.710
And his core argument. over and over is a progressive

00:03:33.710 --> 00:03:35.969
one argued through the lens of scripture. He's

00:03:35.969 --> 00:03:37.830
basically trying to out Christian the Christian

00:03:37.830 --> 00:03:40.189
right. He's not shying away from religious debate.

00:03:40.310 --> 00:03:43.569
He's running straight into it. So today we are

00:03:43.569 --> 00:03:46.129
going to go so much deeper than just the Colbert

00:03:46.129 --> 00:03:48.550
incident. That's just the hook. We're going to

00:03:48.550 --> 00:03:50.629
look at his origin story from a single parent

00:03:50.629 --> 00:03:53.069
household in Round Rock to the halls of Harvard.

00:03:53.449 --> 00:03:56.069
We'll examine his actual legislative record in

00:03:56.069 --> 00:03:58.729
a deep red statehouse. And he has a record. That's

00:03:58.729 --> 00:04:00.610
what's important. He's not just a speech giver.

00:04:00.610 --> 00:04:03.449
He's passed significant bipartisan bills. And

00:04:03.449 --> 00:04:05.250
then we'll get into the core of his political

00:04:05.250 --> 00:04:08.030
identity. It's very specific, very public brand

00:04:08.030 --> 00:04:10.939
of theology driven politics. The central question

00:04:10.939 --> 00:04:13.520
of this whole deep dive really is, is he a genuine

00:04:13.520 --> 00:04:16.439
blueprint for how Democrats can compete in red

00:04:16.439 --> 00:04:20.279
states? Or is he just a unicorn, a one off phenomenon

00:04:20.279 --> 00:04:23.399
from a weird Austin area district who is about

00:04:23.399 --> 00:04:25.860
to learn a very hard lesson in a statewide race?

00:04:25.959 --> 00:04:28.000
I can't wait to get into it. So let's start at

00:04:28.000 --> 00:04:30.470
the beginning. Before the viral sermons, before

00:04:30.470 --> 00:04:33.089
the walkouts, before the Senate run, let's talk

00:04:33.089 --> 00:04:35.250
about his origin story. Sure. He's homegrown

00:04:35.250 --> 00:04:38.449
Texas through and through, born in 1989 in Round

00:04:38.449 --> 00:04:40.949
Rock, just north of Austin. And his background

00:04:40.949 --> 00:04:43.910
isn't, you know, the Silver Spoons story. He

00:04:43.910 --> 00:04:46.449
was born to a single mother, Tamara Causey, and

00:04:46.449 --> 00:04:49.050
later adopted by his stepfather, Mark Tallarico.

00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:51.129
It's a very grounded beginning. And you can kind

00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:53.529
of see the threads of his future career and his

00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:55.850
education, can't you? You really can. It's like

00:04:55.850 --> 00:04:57.980
he was building his toolkit piece by piece. So

00:04:57.980 --> 00:05:00.420
first he goes to the University of Texas at Austin

00:05:00.420 --> 00:05:02.800
for his bachelor's degree. Hook him. Right. But

00:05:02.800 --> 00:05:04.959
then he makes a jump that's, well, it's a little

00:05:04.959 --> 00:05:07.560
unusual for a future Texas politician. He goes

00:05:07.560 --> 00:05:09.959
to Harvard. To the Harvard Graduate School of

00:05:09.959 --> 00:05:12.399
Education for a master's in education policy.

00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.819
Now, in Texas politics, having Harvard on your

00:05:15.819 --> 00:05:18.120
resume can be a double -edged sword. Oh, absolutely.

00:05:18.259 --> 00:05:20.860
His opponents love to paint him as an East Coast

00:05:20.860 --> 00:05:23.680
elite, you know, the Harvard academic. But the

00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.980
key is what he actually studied. He wasn't studying

00:05:26.980 --> 00:05:29.819
abstract political theory. He was studying the

00:05:29.819 --> 00:05:33.579
nuts and bolts of how schools run, the policy,

00:05:33.740 --> 00:05:36.639
the stuff that directly impacts kids in classrooms.

00:05:36.980 --> 00:05:39.560
And crucially, he didn't just stay in that ivory

00:05:39.560 --> 00:05:42.500
tower. A lot of people get a degree like that

00:05:42.500 --> 00:05:44.740
and they go work for a think tank in D .C. He

00:05:44.740 --> 00:05:46.939
did the opposite. He came right back to Texas

00:05:46.939 --> 00:05:49.319
to get his hands dirty. Which brings us to Teach

00:05:49.319 --> 00:05:52.740
for America. He joined in 2011. And he wasn't

00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:56.199
placed in some leafy, wealthy suburb. He taught

00:05:56.199 --> 00:05:58.560
sixth grade English on the west side of San Antonio.

00:05:58.740 --> 00:06:00.279
We should probably give some context for what

00:06:00.279 --> 00:06:02.060
that means. The west side of San Antonio is a

00:06:02.060 --> 00:06:04.939
predominantly low income title high school environment.

00:06:05.240 --> 00:06:07.540
It's a tough gig. You're not just a teacher.

00:06:07.660 --> 00:06:10.759
You're a counselor. You're a social worker. You're

00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:12.800
dealing with kids who are coming to school with

00:06:12.800 --> 00:06:15.319
heavy burdens from home. It's the front lines

00:06:15.319 --> 00:06:18.000
of the education system. And sixth graders. I

00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:20.649
mean, that age group is a force of nature. They're

00:06:20.649 --> 00:06:23.189
a specific kind of chaos, aren't they? They are

00:06:23.189 --> 00:06:26.329
all energy and hormones and absolutely no filter.

00:06:26.569 --> 00:06:28.750
Right. If you're boring, they will let you know.

00:06:29.050 --> 00:06:31.110
If you're not being authentic, they will sniff

00:06:31.110 --> 00:06:34.180
it out from a mile away. I honestly think his

00:06:34.180 --> 00:06:37.019
teaching experience is the key to his entire

00:06:37.019 --> 00:06:40.000
communication style. If you can hold the attention

00:06:40.000 --> 00:06:43.360
of 36th graders and explain the concept of, say,

00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:45.740
a subordinate clause, then you can probably handle

00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:48.199
a filibuster in the Texas House. The legislature

00:06:48.199 --> 00:06:50.560
is probably easier, frankly. At least there,

00:06:50.660 --> 00:06:53.160
they pretend to be paying attention. But watch

00:06:53.160 --> 00:06:56.540
him speak, even in that Colbert clip. He explains

00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:58.939
complex policy like a great teacher explains

00:06:58.939 --> 00:07:01.839
a new concept. He makes it clear. He makes it

00:07:01.839 --> 00:07:04.639
accessible. He uses analogies. He never talks

00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:07.160
down to his audience. It's a very powerful tool.

00:07:07.339 --> 00:07:09.519
So after Teach for America, he works for a nonprofit

00:07:09.519 --> 00:07:12.449
called Reasoning Mind. Yeah. Their whole mission

00:07:12.449 --> 00:07:14.709
was about bringing educational technology to

00:07:14.709 --> 00:07:17.610
low income classrooms, trying to bridge that

00:07:17.610 --> 00:07:19.889
digital divide. So you see this pattern emerging.

00:07:20.410 --> 00:07:22.569
Before he ever thinks about running for office,

00:07:22.750 --> 00:07:25.930
he spent years on the ground inside the system,

00:07:26.029 --> 00:07:28.750
seeing where the policies passed in Austin are

00:07:28.750 --> 00:07:30.870
failing in the real world. That's the kind of

00:07:30.870 --> 00:07:32.730
frustration that usually leads someone to run

00:07:32.730 --> 00:07:35.350
for, I don't know, the local school board. Right.

00:07:35.790 --> 00:07:38.910
Tallarico decided to skip a few steps. So it's

00:07:38.910 --> 00:07:42.509
2018. He's only 28 years old. An incumbent Republican

00:07:42.509 --> 00:07:44.889
in his home district steps down, creating an

00:07:44.889 --> 00:07:47.410
open seat, and he decides to go for it. And this

00:07:47.410 --> 00:07:50.009
was not a safe Democratic seat. This was Texas

00:07:50.009 --> 00:07:53.310
House District 52. At the time, it was a genuine

00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:56.430
swing district. Purple could go either way. And

00:07:56.430 --> 00:07:58.750
he runs a campaign that becomes something of

00:07:58.750 --> 00:08:01.839
a local legend, the shoe leather campaign. A

00:08:01.839 --> 00:08:04.639
lot of candidates say they knock on doors. Tallarico

00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.560
took it to a different level. He didn't just,

00:08:06.600 --> 00:08:08.560
you know, drive to the nice subdivisions. He

00:08:08.560 --> 00:08:11.379
decided to physically walk the entire length

00:08:11.379 --> 00:08:14.019
of his district. In Texas. In the summer. I just,

00:08:14.060 --> 00:08:17.459
I can't overstate how physically punishing that

00:08:17.459 --> 00:08:20.519
is. But think about what it does for a candidate.

00:08:21.259 --> 00:08:23.560
You are not just seeing your district through

00:08:23.560 --> 00:08:26.519
a car window. You are feeling the cracked pavement

00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:28.720
under your feet. You're meeting people on their

00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:31.240
porches covered in sweat. It creates a different

00:08:31.240 --> 00:08:34.580
kind of bond. It shows a level of hunger, of

00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:37.720
commitment, that you can't fake in a 30 -second

00:08:37.720 --> 00:08:40.120
TV ad. No, you can't. And it worked. He pulled

00:08:40.120 --> 00:08:42.539
off the upset. He won the special election. And

00:08:42.539 --> 00:08:44.879
at age 29, he became the youngest member of the

00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:48.539
Texas legislature. So he arrives in Austin. He's

00:08:48.539 --> 00:08:50.399
the new kid on the block in a Capitol building

00:08:50.399 --> 00:08:54.659
that is, let's say it's dominated by older. Very

00:08:54.659 --> 00:08:56.659
conservative, very entrenched Republicans. The

00:08:56.659 --> 00:08:59.179
freshman hazing period, as they call it. The

00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:00.820
expectation is you sit in the back, you keep

00:09:00.820 --> 00:09:02.639
quiet, and you learn how things work. Right.

00:09:02.960 --> 00:09:05.120
Maybe you get to pass a resolution naming a highway

00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:07.179
after a local hero. If you're lucky. But that

00:09:07.179 --> 00:09:08.940
is not what he did. And this is a great transition

00:09:08.940 --> 00:09:12.299
into his actual legislative track record. Because

00:09:12.299 --> 00:09:15.379
it's easy to assume that a young, vocal progressive

00:09:15.379 --> 00:09:18.559
in a red state legislature is just going to be

00:09:18.559 --> 00:09:21.759
a protest voice, making speeches but getting

00:09:21.759 --> 00:09:23.850
nothing done. But that's not what the record

00:09:23.850 --> 00:09:27.690
shows. And this is where the dynamic I find most

00:09:27.690 --> 00:09:30.110
fascinating about him comes into play. It's this

00:09:30.110 --> 00:09:33.230
constant tension between his high -minded, progressive

00:09:33.230 --> 00:09:37.409
ideology and this incredibly sharp, almost ruthless

00:09:37.409 --> 00:09:40.570
pragmatism. He finds these weird little overlaps

00:09:40.570 --> 00:09:42.590
where he can build coalitions. Yeah, he finds

00:09:42.590 --> 00:09:45.809
the spots where the far left and, say, the libertarian

00:09:45.809 --> 00:09:48.250
right might actually agree on something, even

00:09:48.250 --> 00:09:49.850
if they're coming out from completely different

00:09:49.850 --> 00:09:51.950
places. Okay, let's start with the clearest example.

00:09:52.039 --> 00:09:54.820
of this, the insulin cap. This is probably his

00:09:54.820 --> 00:09:56.860
signature achievement. And it ties directly back

00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:59.000
to that story of him walking across the district.

00:09:59.159 --> 00:10:01.419
It's so visceral because it's so personal. So

00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:04.139
let's go back to that 2018 campaign. He's walking

00:10:04.139 --> 00:10:07.379
20, 25 miles a day. He starts feeling awful.

00:10:07.559 --> 00:10:09.320
And he probably just assumes it's dehydration,

00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:12.080
right? Heat exhaustion. Of course. He's young.

00:10:12.240 --> 00:10:15.159
He's fit. He's a type A personality just trying

00:10:15.159 --> 00:10:17.889
to push through the pain. But he was pushing

00:10:17.889 --> 00:10:20.889
his body to the absolute brink. He eventually

00:10:20.889 --> 00:10:23.470
collapsed. His family rushed him to the hospital,

00:10:23.509 --> 00:10:26.590
and he wakes up in the ICU. And the doctors tell

00:10:26.590 --> 00:10:29.350
him he's incredibly lucky to be alive. It wasn't

00:10:29.350 --> 00:10:32.190
just heat stroke. It was diabetic ketoacidosis.

00:10:32.190 --> 00:10:35.250
His pancreas had basically shut down. He was

00:10:35.250 --> 00:10:37.629
diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. That's a life

00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.110
-altering diagnosis. It's not something you recover

00:10:40.110 --> 00:10:43.070
from. It's something you manage forever. It completely

00:10:43.070 --> 00:10:45.789
changes your reality. One day you're a healthy

00:10:45.789 --> 00:10:48.389
young person, the next day your life depends

00:10:48.389 --> 00:10:51.309
on a constant supply of medication. And that

00:10:51.309 --> 00:10:53.929
dependency, that's where the politics of this

00:10:53.929 --> 00:10:55.909
story really kicks in. The moment he leaves the

00:10:55.909 --> 00:10:58.409
hospital. Exactly. After five days in the ICU,

00:10:58.730 --> 00:11:01.009
he goes to the pharmacy to pick up his first

00:11:01.009 --> 00:11:03.750
30 -day supply of insulin. And we should remember,

00:11:03.889 --> 00:11:06.429
insulin isn't some brand new cutting -edge gene

00:11:06.429 --> 00:11:09.889
therapy. The patent was sold in 1923 for $1.

00:11:10.230 --> 00:11:12.830
$1. The inventors explicitly said they wanted

00:11:12.830 --> 00:11:15.279
it to be affordable for everyone. A century ago.

00:11:15.779 --> 00:11:18.179
But when Tallarico, who has health insurance,

00:11:18.320 --> 00:11:21.159
mind you, goes to the counter, the pharmacist

00:11:21.159 --> 00:11:25.360
tells him the price. $684. For one month's supply.

00:11:25.620 --> 00:11:27.759
That's a car payment. That's a mortgage payment

00:11:27.759 --> 00:11:30.000
in some parts of the state. That's a family's

00:11:30.000 --> 00:11:32.379
grocery budget. And he describes having this

00:11:32.379 --> 00:11:35.299
moment of absolute clarity. He's thinking, OK,

00:11:35.460 --> 00:11:38.299
I have a decent job. I have some savings. I can

00:11:38.299 --> 00:11:40.059
put this on a credit card and figure it out.

00:11:40.200 --> 00:11:42.460
But what if I couldn't? What if I was working

00:11:42.460 --> 00:11:45.340
minimum wage? What if I lost my job? The choice

00:11:45.340 --> 00:11:48.580
becomes insulin or rent. And with type one diabetes,

00:11:48.899 --> 00:11:50.360
that's not really a choice. If you don't get

00:11:50.360 --> 00:11:53.519
the insulin, you die. It is that stark. So he

00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:55.940
takes that personal trauma, that pharmacy counter

00:11:55.940 --> 00:11:59.100
shock, and he turns it into legislation. House

00:11:59.100 --> 00:12:03.340
Bill 82. But here's the key question. How on

00:12:03.340 --> 00:12:05.799
earth do you get a Republican -controlled legislature,

00:12:06.259 --> 00:12:09.320
a body that philosophically hates price controls

00:12:09.320 --> 00:12:11.879
and government intervention in the market, to

00:12:11.879 --> 00:12:14.840
pass a bill that caps the price of a drug? That's

00:12:14.840 --> 00:12:16.820
the political genius of it. He didn't frame it

00:12:16.820 --> 00:12:19.220
as an economic issue. He didn't use the language

00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:21.799
of socialized medicine. He framed it as a pro

00:12:21.799 --> 00:12:24.240
-life issue. Exactly. He stood on the floor of

00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:27.159
the Texas House. He told his story. He held up

00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:29.779
his insulin pen. He made it personal. He essentially

00:12:29.779 --> 00:12:32.519
dared his colleagues, many of whom whom run on

00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:35.600
a very strong pro -life platform, to vote against

00:12:35.600 --> 00:12:37.340
a measure that would keep their constituents

00:12:37.340 --> 00:12:40.360
alive. He made it impossible to vote no without

00:12:40.360 --> 00:12:42.580
looking like a hypocrite. And it worked. He built

00:12:42.580 --> 00:12:44.899
this coalition of Democrats and Republicans and

00:12:44.899 --> 00:12:47.779
passed a bill that capped the copay for insulin

00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:52.139
at $25 a month for many Texans. From over $600

00:12:52.139 --> 00:12:55.179
down to $25. That is the life -changing difference.

00:12:55.500 --> 00:12:57.740
It is. Now, to be clear, it's not a perfect solution.

00:12:58.000 --> 00:12:59.960
It applies to state -regulated health plans,

00:12:59.980 --> 00:13:02.440
so it doesn't cover everyone. But it was a massive

00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:04.720
step. It proves that you could take on big pharma

00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.539
in a red state if you found the right argument.

00:13:06.919 --> 00:13:10.120
He also waded into another really difficult area,

00:13:10.340 --> 00:13:13.899
police reform. We have to talk about the Javier

00:13:13.899 --> 00:13:17.120
Ambler case. Yeah, this was a huge, tragic story

00:13:17.120 --> 00:13:19.700
that happened right in his backyard in Williamson

00:13:19.700 --> 00:13:23.639
County. Javier Ambler was a 40 -year -old black

00:13:23.639 --> 00:13:27.450
man, a postal worker. a father he was pulled

00:13:27.450 --> 00:13:30.610
over for a really minor traffic infraction failing

00:13:30.610 --> 00:13:32.830
to dim his headlights to oncoming traffic and

00:13:32.830 --> 00:13:35.289
a 22 -minute chase ensued a chase that ended

00:13:35.289 --> 00:13:37.610
with his death but the really shocking detail

00:13:37.610 --> 00:13:39.730
here was that the williamson county deputies

00:13:39.730 --> 00:13:42.950
involved were being filmed for a reality TV show.

00:13:43.070 --> 00:13:45.629
Live PD. I remember this show. It was incredibly

00:13:45.629 --> 00:13:48.070
controversial. It was. The whole premise was

00:13:48.070 --> 00:13:50.210
embedding camera crews with police departments.

00:13:50.629 --> 00:13:53.389
And critics argued for years that the presence

00:13:53.389 --> 00:13:55.649
of those cameras created a perverse incentive.

00:13:55.830 --> 00:13:58.370
It turned police work into entertainment. If

00:13:58.370 --> 00:13:59.970
you want to get on TV, you can't just have a

00:13:59.970 --> 00:14:01.889
quiet shift riding traffic pickets. Right. You

00:14:01.889 --> 00:14:05.179
need action. You need drama. And in Javier Ambler's

00:14:05.179 --> 00:14:07.240
case, he told the deputies repeatedly that he

00:14:07.240 --> 00:14:09.019
had a heart condition, that he couldn't breathe.

00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:12.379
They tased him multiple times and he died. His

00:14:12.379 --> 00:14:14.740
last words were, I can't breathe. It's just horrific.

00:14:15.000 --> 00:14:18.279
It is. And Talarico didn't just send out a thoughts

00:14:18.279 --> 00:14:21.039
and prayers tweet. He went right at the powerful

00:14:21.039 --> 00:14:24.100
local sheriff, Robert Chody, and publicly called

00:14:24.100 --> 00:14:26.519
for his resignation. That's a bold move for a

00:14:26.519 --> 00:14:29.159
state rep. Very bold. And then he followed it

00:14:29.159 --> 00:14:32.220
up with legislation, House Bill 54, which became

00:14:32.220 --> 00:14:34.840
known as Javier Ambler's Law. And what did the

00:14:34.840 --> 00:14:37.659
law do specifically? It's very simple, very direct.

00:14:37.779 --> 00:14:40.240
It bans any law enforcement agency in Texas from

00:14:40.240 --> 00:14:43.100
contracting with a reality television show. It

00:14:43.100 --> 00:14:45.980
severs the link between policing and for -profit

00:14:45.980 --> 00:14:49.230
entertainment. And again, he got it passed. He

00:14:49.230 --> 00:14:52.330
did because he found that common ground. Even

00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:54.809
the most pro -police Republican could see that

00:14:54.809 --> 00:14:57.149
having a TV producer and a cop's ear yelling,

00:14:57.230 --> 00:14:59.649
get the shot, is probably not a great recipe

00:14:59.649 --> 00:15:02.549
for public safety or good police work. It seems

00:15:02.549 --> 00:15:04.950
his strategy is to find these issues that feel

00:15:04.950 --> 00:15:06.830
like they should be common sense, even if the

00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:08.830
policy solution is actually quite progressive.

00:15:09.029 --> 00:15:11.769
He frames them as moral issues, not partisan

00:15:11.769 --> 00:15:15.110
ones. But he doesn't win all of them. His big

00:15:15.110 --> 00:15:17.789
education agenda, for instance, ran into a brick

00:15:17.789 --> 00:15:20.909
wall named Governor Greg Abbott. Yes, the Great

00:15:20.909 --> 00:15:24.519
Recess debate. Wow. It sounds so ridiculous when

00:15:24.519 --> 00:15:26.639
you say it out loud. It does. I mean, who could

00:15:26.639 --> 00:15:29.139
possibly be against recess? Well, Tallarico had

00:15:29.139 --> 00:15:31.299
this package of bills he called the whole student

00:15:31.299 --> 00:15:33.799
agenda. Yeah. He got parts of it passed, like

00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:35.980
ensuring kids who are suspended still get their

00:15:35.980 --> 00:15:39.559
coursework. Yeah. But one bill, HB 455, would

00:15:39.559 --> 00:15:41.500
have simply required elementary schools to provide

00:15:41.500 --> 00:15:43.879
a certain amount of time for unstructured play

00:15:43.879 --> 00:15:46.879
for recess. And Governor Abbott vetoed it. He

00:15:46.879 --> 00:15:49.500
vetoed it. The official reason was that it was

00:15:49.500 --> 00:15:52.320
an example of state overreach. that local school

00:15:52.320 --> 00:15:54.139
districts should decide their own schedules.

00:15:54.500 --> 00:15:57.600
Local control. But the optics are terrible. The

00:15:57.600 --> 00:15:59.879
governor who canceled recess. The optics are

00:15:59.879 --> 00:16:02.159
awful. But for Tallarico, I think it was an important

00:16:02.159 --> 00:16:04.879
lesson. It showed him that even the most benign,

00:16:04.879 --> 00:16:08.519
common sense, nice bill could be sacrificed on

00:16:08.519 --> 00:16:10.480
the altar of a governor's political ideology.

00:16:11.019 --> 00:16:13.379
So that's the pragmatist. Yeah. The guy who gets

00:16:13.379 --> 00:16:15.740
things done. But there's a whole other side to

00:16:15.740 --> 00:16:18.419
his record. The times when he decided the only

00:16:18.419 --> 00:16:21.259
winning move was to, well, literally leave the

00:16:21.259 --> 00:16:23.700
building. The walkouts. This is where you see

00:16:23.700 --> 00:16:26.000
the fighter, Talarico, the guy who's willing

00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:28.740
to grind the entire legislative process to a

00:16:28.740 --> 00:16:30.919
halt. We should probably do a quick Texas Civics

00:16:30.919 --> 00:16:32.639
101 here for people who aren't familiar with

00:16:32.639 --> 00:16:35.240
this. The quorum rule. Right. In the Texas House,

00:16:35.360 --> 00:16:38.539
you can't hold a vote on a bill unless two thirds

00:16:38.539 --> 00:16:40.759
of the members are physically present in the

00:16:40.759 --> 00:16:43.200
chamber. It's a constitutional requirement. So

00:16:43.200 --> 00:16:45.740
out of 150 members, you need 100 people in the

00:16:45.740 --> 00:16:48.320
room for business to happen. If 51 of them decide

00:16:48.320 --> 00:16:50.639
to go on a little trip. The whole system shuts

00:16:50.639 --> 00:16:53.649
down. the speaker can bang the gavel all day

00:16:53.649 --> 00:16:56.690
long, but no laws can be passed. So flashback

00:16:56.690 --> 00:17:01.110
to 2021. The Republican majority is pushing a

00:17:01.110 --> 00:17:04.589
set of very restrictive voting laws. Things like

00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:07.289
banning 24 -hour voting, banning drive -thru

00:17:07.289 --> 00:17:10.130
voting, empowering partisan poll watchers. And

00:17:10.130 --> 00:17:11.970
the Democrats just don't have the votes on the

00:17:11.970 --> 00:17:14.150
floor to stop it. They're in the minority. So

00:17:14.150 --> 00:17:16.529
they use their only remaining weapon. They fled.

00:17:17.289 --> 00:17:19.210
They chartered planes and flew to Washington,

00:17:19.390 --> 00:17:22.230
D .C., just outside the jurisdiction of the Texas

00:17:22.230 --> 00:17:24.509
Rangers, who could have arrested them and brought

00:17:24.509 --> 00:17:27.089
them back. Tallarico was right there with them.

00:17:27.130 --> 00:17:29.750
It was a huge national story. But here's where

00:17:29.750 --> 00:17:32.049
the story gets a little more complicated and,

00:17:32.130 --> 00:17:35.450
honestly, more interesting. After several weeks,

00:17:35.730 --> 00:17:38.289
Tallarico was one of the first Democrats to return

00:17:38.289 --> 00:17:41.289
to Texas. He was, and he caught so much hell

00:17:41.289 --> 00:17:44.250
for it from his own side. Progressive activists,

00:17:44.609 --> 00:17:48.269
fellow Democrats, they were livid. They saw it

00:17:48.269 --> 00:17:51.589
as breaking ranks, as caving in. So why did he

00:17:51.589 --> 00:17:54.269
do it? What was his rationale? This is that pragmatism

00:17:54.269 --> 00:17:56.650
kicking in again. His argument was essentially

00:17:56.650 --> 00:17:59.450
that the walkout had served its purpose. The

00:17:59.450 --> 00:18:01.990
goal, in his view, was to run out the clock on

00:18:01.990 --> 00:18:04.630
the special session and, more importantly, to

00:18:04.630 --> 00:18:06.970
draw national attention to the issue to pressure

00:18:06.970 --> 00:18:09.509
Congress to pass federal voting rights legislation.

00:18:09.829 --> 00:18:11.869
Like the John Lewis Voting Rights Act. Exactly.

00:18:12.029 --> 00:18:15.309
He argued. We did that. We made our point. Now

00:18:15.309 --> 00:18:17.269
we need to go back and engage in harm reduction.

00:18:18.029 --> 00:18:20.210
His belief was that it was better to be in the

00:18:20.210 --> 00:18:22.710
room fighting to amend the bill and make it less

00:18:22.710 --> 00:18:25.490
bad than to stay in D .C. indefinitely while

00:18:25.490 --> 00:18:27.150
the Republicans eventually passed whatever they

00:18:27.150 --> 00:18:29.670
wanted anyway. It's a very calculated, almost

00:18:29.670 --> 00:18:32.650
cold political analysis. He's looking at the

00:18:32.650 --> 00:18:35.089
long game while others are focused on the symbolic

00:18:35.089 --> 00:18:37.630
stand. It definitely showed an independent streak.

00:18:37.690 --> 00:18:40.470
He was willing to risk the wrath of his own base

00:18:40.470 --> 00:18:42.589
because he thought the strategy needed to change.

00:18:42.950 --> 00:18:45.390
But don't think for a second that it means he's

00:18:45.390 --> 00:18:48.849
afraid of a fight. Because in 2025... He did

00:18:48.849 --> 00:18:51.230
it all over again. The redistricting walkout.

00:18:51.309 --> 00:18:54.450
Yes. The GOP tried to ram through a mid -decade

00:18:54.450 --> 00:18:56.849
congressional redistricting map, which is a huge

00:18:56.849 --> 00:18:58.549
no -no. You're only supposed to do it once a

00:18:58.549 --> 00:19:01.490
decade after the census. This was a pure power

00:19:01.490 --> 00:19:05.009
grab to lock in their majority. So he and 50

00:19:05.009 --> 00:19:07.549
other Democrats walked out again. They did. And

00:19:07.549 --> 00:19:10.150
this time, the Republican leadership escalated

00:19:10.150 --> 00:19:12.430
things dramatically. The attorney general, Ken

00:19:12.430 --> 00:19:16.109
Paxton, literally sued to have Tallarico and

00:19:16.109 --> 00:19:18.109
the others expelled from the legislature. He

00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:20.309
tried to have them fired from their jobs for

00:19:20.309 --> 00:19:22.990
doing their jobs in a way. He tried to have their

00:19:22.990 --> 00:19:25.750
seats declared vacant. It was a full blown constitutional

00:19:25.750 --> 00:19:28.910
crisis. Tallarico was facing the end of his political

00:19:28.910 --> 00:19:30.849
career. That's playing chicken with the entire

00:19:30.849 --> 00:19:33.950
democratic process. It is. He eventually returned

00:19:33.950 --> 00:19:36.250
before the Texas Supreme Court could rule. But

00:19:36.250 --> 00:19:38.890
the fact that he was willing to go that far to

00:19:38.890 --> 00:19:41.349
put his seat on the line shows you that when

00:19:41.349 --> 00:19:43.430
he thinks a fundamental principle is at stake,

00:19:43.569 --> 00:19:46.349
the pragmatist disappears and the fighter takes

00:19:46.349 --> 00:19:49.190
over. So you've got this fascinating mix, the

00:19:49.190 --> 00:19:51.809
guy who builds coalitions to cap insulin prices

00:19:51.809 --> 00:19:55.029
and the guy who flees the state to shut down

00:19:55.029 --> 00:19:57.529
the government. What is the three line? What

00:19:57.529 --> 00:19:59.769
connects those two sides of him? It's his faith.

00:19:59.829 --> 00:20:02.210
I am convinced that if you don't understand his

00:20:02.210 --> 00:20:04.329
theology, you can't understand his political

00:20:04.329 --> 00:20:07.849
calculus. It is the absolute core of the Telerico

00:20:07.849 --> 00:20:10.089
brand. OK, let's dive into that. Section three,

00:20:10.210 --> 00:20:13.369
the theology of James Telerico. And like you

00:20:13.369 --> 00:20:15.849
said, he doesn't hide this. He's not just a politician

00:20:15.849 --> 00:20:17.930
who happens to go to church on Sunday. No, he

00:20:17.930 --> 00:20:20.410
is actively studying for a Master of Divinity

00:20:20.410 --> 00:20:22.910
at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

00:20:23.130 --> 00:20:25.609
He's deeply involved in his church, St. Andrew's

00:20:25.609 --> 00:20:28.289
Presbyterian in Austin. He preaches guest sermons.

00:20:28.309 --> 00:20:30.589
This is central to his identity. And he often

00:20:30.589 --> 00:20:32.329
talks about the influence of his grandfather,

00:20:32.509 --> 00:20:35.089
who was a Baptist preacher. Right. And he says

00:20:35.089 --> 00:20:37.450
his grandfather taught him that religion is actually

00:20:37.450 --> 00:20:40.970
very simple. Not easy, but simple. It boils down

00:20:40.970 --> 00:20:43.930
to two things. Love God and love your neighbor.

00:20:44.250 --> 00:20:45.990
It's the great commandment from the Gospels.

00:20:46.029 --> 00:20:49.049
It is. But Telerico does something really clever

00:20:49.049 --> 00:20:51.890
with it. He takes that simple phrase and he defines

00:20:51.890 --> 00:20:54.809
politics through it. He says politics is simply

00:20:54.809 --> 00:20:57.670
the public application of how we treat our neighbors.

00:20:57.930 --> 00:21:00.829
That's a powerful reframe. It's a brilliant reframe

00:21:00.829 --> 00:21:02.829
because once you accept that definition, then

00:21:02.829 --> 00:21:05.289
every single policy debate becomes a theological

00:21:05.289 --> 00:21:08.109
debate. A budget is no longer a spreadsheet.

00:21:08.289 --> 00:21:11.250
It's a moral document. A health care bill isn't

00:21:11.250 --> 00:21:13.430
about economics. It's about whether or not we

00:21:13.430 --> 00:21:15.309
are loving our neighbor by healing them. And

00:21:15.309 --> 00:21:17.890
this framework is what leads him directly into

00:21:17.890 --> 00:21:21.170
his what he calls his war on Christian nationalism.

00:21:21.819 --> 00:21:24.579
He is one of the most outspoken critics of Christian

00:21:24.579 --> 00:21:27.299
nationalism in the country. He calls it a cancer

00:21:27.299 --> 00:21:30.000
on our religion. He calls it idolatry. He says

00:21:30.000 --> 00:21:31.980
it's the worship of power instead of the worship

00:21:31.980 --> 00:21:33.980
of God. I'm looking at a quote from a sermon

00:21:33.980 --> 00:21:36.619
he gave in 2023. It went viral, got over a million

00:21:36.619 --> 00:21:39.680
views. He says that Christian nationalists have

00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:44.019
turned Jesus into a and this is a direct quote,

00:21:44.240 --> 00:21:49.000
gun toting, gay bashing, science denying, money

00:21:49.000 --> 00:21:52.269
loving, fear mongering fascist. That is not pulling

00:21:52.269 --> 00:21:54.529
any punches. No, that is throwing a theological

00:21:54.529 --> 00:21:57.210
hand grenade. But here's why it's so politically

00:21:57.210 --> 00:22:00.509
potent. If a secular liberal from New York says

00:22:00.509 --> 00:22:03.329
that, the conservative Christian audience just

00:22:03.329 --> 00:22:05.829
dismisses it. It's anti -Christian bias. It's

00:22:05.829 --> 00:22:07.650
an attack from the outside. They just tune it

00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:09.750
out. Mattelarico is saying it from a pulpit.

00:22:10.089 --> 00:22:12.150
He's saying it from a pulpit as a seminarian

00:22:12.150 --> 00:22:14.630
quoting scripture to back up his points. He is

00:22:14.630 --> 00:22:17.069
fighting from inside the house. He's not attacking

00:22:17.069 --> 00:22:19.829
Christianity. He's arguing that Christian nationalism

00:22:19.829 --> 00:22:22.250
is a perversion of Christianity. The heresy.

00:22:22.430 --> 00:22:24.470
Essentially, yes. He's accusing them of breaking

00:22:24.470 --> 00:22:26.789
the very first commandment. You shall have no

00:22:26.789 --> 00:22:29.049
other gods before me. He's saying they've made

00:22:29.049 --> 00:22:31.210
an idol out of political power, out of the flag,

00:22:31.390 --> 00:22:34.910
out of a political party. And that is a critique

00:22:34.910 --> 00:22:37.670
that is very, very difficult for his opponents

00:22:37.670 --> 00:22:40.640
to respond to. And we. saw this play out in real

00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:43.099
time during the Ten Commandments battle in the

00:22:43.099 --> 00:22:46.079
legislature. This was a huge culture war flashpoint.

00:22:46.380 --> 00:22:48.900
The GOP introduced a bill that would have required

00:22:48.900 --> 00:22:52.079
every single public school classroom in Texas

00:22:52.079 --> 00:22:55.059
to display a poster of the Ten Commandments.

00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.000
And Tallarico led the fight against it. But I

00:22:58.000 --> 00:22:59.740
want to focus on how he fought it because it

00:22:59.740 --> 00:23:02.400
was a masterclass. First, he killed the bill

00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:05.039
with a procedural move, a point of order. Yeah,

00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.180
this is where the Harvard policy nerd comes out

00:23:07.180 --> 00:23:10.470
to play. The Texas legislative rulebook is incredibly

00:23:10.470 --> 00:23:13.869
thick and incredibly specific. There are arcane

00:23:13.869 --> 00:23:16.410
rules about everything from how a bill's caption

00:23:16.410 --> 00:23:18.890
is written to the font size used in the financial

00:23:18.890 --> 00:23:21.210
analysis. It's like a teacher grading a term

00:23:21.210 --> 00:23:23.849
paper for formatting errors. It's exactly like

00:23:23.849 --> 00:23:26.309
that. And Tallarico knows that rulebook inside

00:23:26.309 --> 00:23:28.829
and out. So while the Republicans were on the

00:23:28.829 --> 00:23:31.450
floor giving these grand speeches about morality,

00:23:31.890 --> 00:23:34.970
he was quietly reading the bill's paperwork.

00:23:35.720 --> 00:23:39.160
And he found a tiny technical error. So he didn't

00:23:39.160 --> 00:23:41.539
beat them on the substance of the argument. He

00:23:41.539 --> 00:23:43.880
beat them on a technicality. Initially, yes.

00:23:44.180 --> 00:23:47.059
He raised a point of order. The parliamentarian

00:23:47.059 --> 00:23:49.180
had to agree the bill was flawed and it died.

00:23:49.440 --> 00:23:51.880
It infuriates his opponents because it's a very

00:23:51.880 --> 00:23:54.420
public way of saying not only are you wrong,

00:23:54.500 --> 00:23:57.559
you're also sloppy. But of course, they fixed

00:23:57.559 --> 00:24:00.119
the error and brought the bill back. And that's

00:24:00.119 --> 00:24:01.960
when the real debate happened. Right. And this

00:24:01.960 --> 00:24:04.819
is the moment that really went viral. He stood

00:24:04.819 --> 00:24:07.119
up to question the bill's Republican author.

00:24:07.559 --> 00:24:10.460
And the standard Democratic argument here would

00:24:10.460 --> 00:24:12.539
be about the separation of church and state.

00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:14.440
The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment.

00:24:14.599 --> 00:24:17.299
Exactly. And he made that argument. But then

00:24:17.299 --> 00:24:19.859
he went a step further. He argued that the bill

00:24:19.859 --> 00:24:23.359
wasn't just un -American. It was also un -Christian.

00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:26.660
Now that's a bold claim. How do you argue that

00:24:26.660 --> 00:24:28.619
posting the Ten Commandments is unchristian?

00:24:28.880 --> 00:24:31.420
His logic was fascinating. He said that faith,

00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.099
by its very nature, must be a free choice. It

00:24:34.099 --> 00:24:36.980
cannot be coerced. He argued that when the government

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:40.420
mandates the display of a holy text, it cheapens

00:24:40.420 --> 00:24:42.880
it. It turns something sacred into just another

00:24:42.880 --> 00:24:44.900
government poster on the wall right next to the

00:24:44.900 --> 00:24:47.400
fire drill instructions. He's saying you're actually

00:24:47.400 --> 00:24:49.660
disrespecting the text by forcing it on people.

00:24:49.980 --> 00:24:52.880
Precisely. He was making both a libertarian argument,

00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:54.559
the government shouldn't be involved in religion,

00:24:54.819 --> 00:24:58.160
and a deeply theological one, that forced faith.

00:24:58.250 --> 00:25:01.490
Faith is not true faith. And that clip of him

00:25:01.490 --> 00:25:04.490
calmly grilling the Republican sponsor is what

00:25:04.490 --> 00:25:06.829
landed him on the Joe Rogan experience. In July

00:25:06.829 --> 00:25:10.730
of 2025, a massive, massive platform. And it

00:25:10.730 --> 00:25:12.670
showed he wasn't afraid to go into a space that

00:25:12.670 --> 00:25:14.529
isn't traditionally friendly to Democrats and

00:25:14.529 --> 00:25:17.890
make his case. OK, so all of this, the legislative

00:25:17.890 --> 00:25:20.569
record, the viral moments, the theological framework,

00:25:20.809 --> 00:25:23.329
it's all been a buildup to this current moment,

00:25:23.450 --> 00:25:26.430
the 2026 Senate campaign. He announced his run

00:25:26.430 --> 00:25:29.410
in September of 2025, and he is jumping into

00:25:29.410 --> 00:25:32.029
a very competitive Democratic primary. His main

00:25:32.029 --> 00:25:34.430
opponent is U .S. Representative Jasmine Crockett.

00:25:34.490 --> 00:25:36.890
And that is a clash of titans. Crockett is a

00:25:36.890 --> 00:25:38.950
star in the progressive movement. She's known

00:25:38.950 --> 00:25:41.349
for these fiery viral clips from congressional

00:25:41.349 --> 00:25:44.069
hearings. She's a brilliant debater and a fierce

00:25:44.069 --> 00:25:46.509
fighter. She represents the, you know, the punch

00:25:46.509 --> 00:25:49.289
back twice as hard wing of the party. So it's

00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:52.019
a real contrast in styles. But Tallarico has

00:25:52.019 --> 00:25:54.839
been gaining some serious momentum. He just got

00:25:54.839 --> 00:25:56.779
the endorsement of the Houston Chronicle. Which

00:25:56.779 --> 00:25:59.099
is a big deal. And their reasoning was very telling.

00:25:59.319 --> 00:26:01.140
They didn't just say they liked his policies.

00:26:01.279 --> 00:26:04.519
They specifically cited his perceived ability

00:26:04.519 --> 00:26:07.660
to win over undecided and even soft Republican

00:26:07.660 --> 00:26:09.759
voters. They mentioned an appearance he made

00:26:09.759 --> 00:26:12.940
on that YouTube series Jubilee. Yes. The surrounded.

00:26:13.630 --> 00:26:16.369
format. They put one person in the middle of

00:26:16.369 --> 00:26:18.849
a circle of like 25 people who disagree with

00:26:18.849 --> 00:26:21.710
them. In his case, it was one Texas Democrat

00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:24.730
versus 25 undecided voters. That sounds like

00:26:24.730 --> 00:26:26.710
my personal nightmare. It's an absolute pressure

00:26:26.710 --> 00:26:29.170
cooker. But the Chronicle's editorial board pointed

00:26:29.170 --> 00:26:31.759
out that Tallarico never got defensive. He didn't

00:26:31.759 --> 00:26:34.000
raise his voice. He just listened calmly and

00:26:34.000 --> 00:26:36.420
respectfully and then made his case. And you

00:26:36.420 --> 00:26:38.880
could see people in the circle start to nod along.

00:26:39.079 --> 00:26:41.660
It's that nice guy disruptor tactic again. It

00:26:41.660 --> 00:26:44.000
is. The Chronicle basically made the argument

00:26:44.000 --> 00:26:46.539
that while Jasmine Crockett is fantastic at firing

00:26:46.539 --> 00:26:49.299
up the base, Tallarico might be the one who can

00:26:49.299 --> 00:26:51.480
actually expand the tent. So let's get into the

00:26:51.480 --> 00:26:54.460
specifics of what he's actually running on. What's

00:26:54.460 --> 00:26:57.900
the platform? It is, broadly speaking, a pretty

00:26:57.900 --> 00:27:00.819
standard progressive platform. But the way he

00:27:00.819 --> 00:27:04.079
brands it is pure Texas. Let's start with health

00:27:04.079 --> 00:27:07.220
care. He supports a universal health care system,

00:27:07.420 --> 00:27:11.019
a Medicare for all style public auction. But

00:27:11.019 --> 00:27:13.740
he doesn't call it that. He calls it Medicare

00:27:13.740 --> 00:27:16.440
for y 'all. Medicare for y 'all. I mean, it's

00:27:16.440 --> 00:27:18.480
just brilliant marketing. It really is. It takes

00:27:18.480 --> 00:27:20.920
this concept that has been relentlessly attacked

00:27:20.920 --> 00:27:23.859
as socialism. Yeah. And it wraps it in the warmest,

00:27:23.859 --> 00:27:27.039
friendliest, most Texan word there is. Exactly.

00:27:27.359 --> 00:27:29.400
Medicare for all sounds like a federal government

00:27:29.400 --> 00:27:31.859
program. Medicare for y 'all sounds like something

00:27:31.859 --> 00:27:33.839
your neighbor is inviting you to. It's communal.

00:27:34.000 --> 00:27:37.039
It's folksy. It's disarming. He does the same

00:27:37.039 --> 00:27:39.099
thing with immigration using this front porch

00:27:39.099 --> 00:27:41.589
metaphor. This is one of his best rhetorical

00:27:41.589 --> 00:27:44.170
devices. He says, we need to treat our southern

00:27:44.170 --> 00:27:46.650
border like we treat our front porch. We should

00:27:46.650 --> 00:27:48.970
have a giant welcome mat out front and we should

00:27:48.970 --> 00:27:51.549
have a good lock on the door. It perfectly threads

00:27:51.549 --> 00:27:54.839
the needle between compassion and security. It

00:27:54.839 --> 00:27:57.380
does. It validates the concerns of people worried

00:27:57.380 --> 00:28:01.019
about security and order, the lock, while affirming

00:28:01.019 --> 00:28:03.140
the progressive value of welcoming immigrants

00:28:03.140 --> 00:28:06.759
and asylum seekers, the welcome mat. It completely

00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:09.119
sidesteps the false choice between open borders

00:28:09.119 --> 00:28:11.279
and build the wall. He's also leaning heavily

00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:13.940
into congressional reform. Very heavily. Term

00:28:13.940 --> 00:28:16.319
limits for members of Congress, a ban on them

00:28:16.319 --> 00:28:19.220
trading stocks, and a federal ban on partisan

00:28:19.220 --> 00:28:22.089
gerrymandering. These are all hugely popular

00:28:22.089 --> 00:28:24.670
ideas with voters across the political spectrum.

00:28:24.789 --> 00:28:27.230
They poll incredibly well. They do, because they

00:28:27.230 --> 00:28:29.730
tap into that deep -seated feeling that the system

00:28:29.730 --> 00:28:32.650
in Washington is rigged and corrupt. But he's

00:28:32.650 --> 00:28:34.750
not playing it safe on every issue. His stance

00:28:34.750 --> 00:28:37.450
on Israel and Palestine is, well, it's pretty

00:28:37.450 --> 00:28:39.750
far to the left for a statewide candidate in

00:28:39.750 --> 00:28:41.970
Texas. This is probably his biggest political

00:28:41.970 --> 00:28:45.309
risk. Texas has a very large and very influential

00:28:45.309 --> 00:28:47.829
pro -Israel evangelical Christian population.

00:28:48.329 --> 00:28:51.130
And Tallarico has been an outspoken critic of

00:28:51.130 --> 00:28:53.549
the Israeli government's actions in Gaza. He

00:28:53.549 --> 00:28:56.289
hasn't minced words. He's used terms like atrocities

00:28:56.289 --> 00:28:59.549
and war crimes. He has. He supports a two -state

00:28:59.549 --> 00:29:02.329
solution. But in the immediate term, he supports

00:29:02.329 --> 00:29:04.869
banning the sale of offensive weapons to Israel.

00:29:05.440 --> 00:29:08.380
He's been critical of AIPAC. He's called the

00:29:08.380 --> 00:29:11.359
war the moral test of our time. That's going

00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:14.380
to be used against him in attack ads, 100%. They'll

00:29:14.380 --> 00:29:17.099
paint him as anti -Israel, as radical. Without

00:29:17.099 --> 00:29:19.920
a doubt. But his argument is that it's a consistent

00:29:19.920 --> 00:29:22.759
application of his core belief. His love your

00:29:22.759 --> 00:29:25.039
neighbor theology doesn't stop at the U .S. border.

00:29:25.279 --> 00:29:27.940
He argues that you can't ignore the suffering

00:29:27.940 --> 00:29:31.039
of Palestinian civilians. It's a morally courageous

00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:34.259
stance, but it's also politically perilous. He

00:29:34.259 --> 00:29:36.259
also has strong positions on the Supreme Court.

00:29:36.380 --> 00:29:38.660
Yeah, he's opened the idea of expanding the court

00:29:38.660 --> 00:29:41.680
and he strongly supports term limits for justices

00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:43.859
and a binding code of ethics, which is a direct

00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:46.269
response to the recent scandals involving. some

00:29:46.269 --> 00:29:48.730
of the justices. So his platform is a mix of

00:29:48.730 --> 00:29:51.789
folksy branded populism and some genuinely risky

00:29:51.789 --> 00:29:54.390
progressive foreign policy. It's a complex balancing

00:29:54.390 --> 00:29:56.910
act. And all of this is happening against the

00:29:56.910 --> 00:29:59.470
backdrop of this escalating fight over media

00:29:59.470 --> 00:30:01.430
and censorship, which brings us right back to

00:30:01.430 --> 00:30:03.599
where we started. It's become a central theme

00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:06.619
of his campaign. It's not just the Colbert cancellation.

00:30:07.180 --> 00:30:10.480
There was also an FCC probe launched into the

00:30:10.480 --> 00:30:13.480
talk show The View after he appeared on it. Right,

00:30:13.559 --> 00:30:16.000
citing equal time rules, even though those rules

00:30:16.000 --> 00:30:19.000
almost never apply to news and talk shows. It

00:30:19.000 --> 00:30:21.920
all feeds into this narrative that he's a threat

00:30:21.920 --> 00:30:24.799
to the established order. When Stephen Colbert

00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.180
goes on national television and says, my boss

00:30:27.180 --> 00:30:28.980
has told me not to talk about this, but I'm going

00:30:28.980 --> 00:30:31.640
to anyway. It makes Telerico look like the one

00:30:31.640 --> 00:30:34.599
person who's telling a truth so dangerous, the

00:30:34.599 --> 00:30:36.700
powers that be are trying to shut him up. It's

00:30:36.700 --> 00:30:39.200
the ultimate validation. It elevates him from

00:30:39.200 --> 00:30:42.759
just another candidate. to a cause, a free speech

00:30:42.759 --> 00:30:45.000
murder. Which is so ironic because if you actually

00:30:45.000 --> 00:30:47.099
watch him, his personal style is the opposite

00:30:47.099 --> 00:30:49.339
of a dangerous radical. That's the great paradox

00:30:49.339 --> 00:30:52.099
of James Tallarico. He is what I'd call the nice

00:30:52.099 --> 00:30:54.720
guy disruptor. He doesn't yell. He doesn't pound

00:30:54.720 --> 00:30:57.900
the table. His cadence is very calm, very measured.

00:30:58.180 --> 00:31:00.839
It's almost pastoral. It's very youth pastor,

00:31:01.019 --> 00:31:02.779
isn't it? You kind of expect him to break out

00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:04.700
an acoustic guitar at any moment. You really

00:31:04.700 --> 00:31:07.920
do. But that calmness is a political weapon.

00:31:08.349 --> 00:31:11.029
It's incredibly effective. It disarms people.

00:31:11.269 --> 00:31:13.809
When your opponent is red faced and screaming

00:31:13.809 --> 00:31:16.230
about socialism and you're just calmly explaining

00:31:16.230 --> 00:31:18.750
your position, you automatically look like the

00:31:18.750 --> 00:31:20.390
more reasonable person in the room. It makes

00:31:20.390 --> 00:31:23.009
it very hard for them to land a punch. We also

00:31:23.009 --> 00:31:24.849
have to touch on his political survival skills.

00:31:25.049 --> 00:31:28.490
Right. The redistricting process in 2021 was

00:31:28.490 --> 00:31:31.630
designed in part To end his career. Oh, absolutely.

00:31:31.990 --> 00:31:34.690
The Republican map drawers took his swing district,

00:31:34.890 --> 00:31:38.589
District 52, and they surgically redrew the lines

00:31:38.589 --> 00:31:40.849
to make it significantly more Republican. It

00:31:40.849 --> 00:31:43.250
was a targeted kill shot. So how did he survive?

00:31:43.509 --> 00:31:46.170
He moved. A neighboring district, District 50,

00:31:46.309 --> 00:31:48.309
was a safe Democratic seat and the incumbent

00:31:48.309 --> 00:31:51.170
was retiring. So Tallarico packed his bags and

00:31:51.170 --> 00:31:53.410
moved a few miles over. His opponents must have

00:31:53.410 --> 00:31:55.930
screamed, carpetbagger. They did, of course.

00:31:55.930 --> 00:31:58.009
They called him an opportunist. But his argument

00:31:58.009 --> 00:32:00.650
was simple. I was drawn out of my district. If

00:32:00.650 --> 00:32:02.309
I want to keep fighting for these values in the

00:32:02.309 --> 00:32:04.430
legislature, I have to be in a district I can

00:32:04.430 --> 00:32:06.730
win. And the Democratic primary voters in the

00:32:06.730 --> 00:32:09.069
new district embraced him. He won with almost

00:32:09.069 --> 00:32:11.250
80 percent of the vote. So he's not just a preacher.

00:32:11.390 --> 00:32:13.549
He's a shrewd political operator. He understands

00:32:13.549 --> 00:32:15.730
how to play the game. He knows when to give a

00:32:15.730 --> 00:32:18.170
sermon and when to read a map. So let's try to

00:32:18.170 --> 00:32:20.549
pull all these threads together. We have a politician.

00:32:21.150 --> 00:32:24.049
who quotes Jesus to argue for abortion rights

00:32:24.049 --> 00:32:27.970
and LGBTQ equality. A type one diabetic who took

00:32:27.970 --> 00:32:31.109
on big pharma and capped insulin prices. A viral

00:32:31.109 --> 00:32:33.630
sensation who is now at the center of a national

00:32:33.630 --> 00:32:36.630
debate about censorship. It is a unique and potent

00:32:36.630 --> 00:32:38.990
combination, but it all comes down to the big

00:32:38.990 --> 00:32:43.460
question. Can it work? In Texas. Yeah. Is Texas

00:32:43.460 --> 00:32:46.720
in 2026 ready for a candidate like this? Let's

00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:48.779
be honest. This is still a state that comfortably

00:32:48.779 --> 00:32:51.920
reelected Greg Abbott and Ted Cruz. The Republican

00:32:51.920 --> 00:32:55.220
Party machine here is incredibly powerful. Tallarico

00:32:55.220 --> 00:32:58.240
is making a huge bet. He's betting that the reason

00:32:58.240 --> 00:33:00.599
Democrats keep losing statewide is what he calls

00:33:00.599 --> 00:33:02.880
the God gap. Right. He believes there's a huge

00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:05.200
slice of the electorate, moderates, independents,

00:33:05.200 --> 00:33:07.400
even some soft Republicans who are culturally

00:33:07.400 --> 00:33:09.920
conservative and religious, but might be open

00:33:09.920 --> 00:33:12.440
to a progressive economic message if it's delivered

00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:14.480
by someone they see as sharing their values.

00:33:14.759 --> 00:33:17.019
He's trying to give them permission to vote Democratic.

00:33:17.059 --> 00:33:19.640
He is. He's trying to tell them, you don't have

00:33:19.640 --> 00:33:21.779
to choose between your faith. and your economic

00:33:21.779 --> 00:33:24.619
well -being. In fact, my faith is what drives

00:33:24.619 --> 00:33:28.119
my desire for your economic well -being. So let's

00:33:28.119 --> 00:33:30.460
bring it home. Why does any of this matter to

00:33:30.460 --> 00:33:33.180
someone listening in, say, California or Ohio

00:33:33.180 --> 00:33:35.880
or Florida? What is the national significance

00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:38.359
of James Tallarico? I think it's because the

00:33:38.359 --> 00:33:40.980
National Democratic Party has a perceived God

00:33:40.980 --> 00:33:43.970
problem. For the last few decades, they have,

00:33:44.190 --> 00:33:46.890
for a variety of reasons, largely ceded the public

00:33:46.890 --> 00:33:49.009
square when it comes to the language of faith,

00:33:49.210 --> 00:33:52.529
values, and morality. They talk policy and data,

00:33:52.630 --> 00:33:55.430
while the GOP talks about good and evil. And

00:33:55.430 --> 00:33:58.710
that's a powerful asymmetry. Telerico is offering

00:33:58.710 --> 00:34:00.930
a potential blueprint for how to change that.

00:34:01.359 --> 00:34:03.099
He's demonstrating that you don't have to run

00:34:03.099 --> 00:34:05.680
away from faith. You can run toward it. You can

00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.380
use the same text your opponents use, but use

00:34:08.380 --> 00:34:10.920
them to argue for compassion, for justice, for

00:34:10.920 --> 00:34:13.300
health care. If he could actually win a U .S.

00:34:13.320 --> 00:34:15.219
Senate seat in the heart of the Bible Belt. It

00:34:15.219 --> 00:34:17.219
would be a political earthquake. It would fundamentally

00:34:17.219 --> 00:34:20.019
change the calculus for Democrats running in

00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:22.699
red and purple states everywhere. It would prove

00:34:22.699 --> 00:34:24.980
that the Republican monopoly on religious voters

00:34:24.980 --> 00:34:27.420
is not unbreakable. It could reopen a conversation

00:34:27.420 --> 00:34:29.440
that's been closed for a generation. It could.

00:34:29.579 --> 00:34:32.369
So let me leave you. and everyone listening with

00:34:32.369 --> 00:34:36.469
a final provocative thought to chew on. Tallarico's

00:34:36.469 --> 00:34:39.050
central critique of Christian nationalism is

00:34:39.050 --> 00:34:42.150
that it's the worship of power, that it is idolatry.

00:34:42.190 --> 00:34:46.590
If he wins the Senate race, if his religious

00:34:46.590 --> 00:34:49.789
progressive framework proves to be a successful

00:34:49.789 --> 00:34:53.769
political strategy, does that fundamentally change

00:34:53.769 --> 00:34:56.010
the Republican Party's relationship with its

00:34:56.010 --> 00:34:59.230
own religious base? If the God card is no longer

00:34:59.230 --> 00:35:02.230
an exclusive Trump card, does it force both parties

00:35:02.230 --> 00:35:04.130
back to a place where they have to debate policy

00:35:04.130 --> 00:35:06.730
on the merits? Or does it just ignite an even

00:35:06.730 --> 00:35:08.949
more intense holy war for the soul of America?

00:35:09.130 --> 00:35:11.010
That is the multibillion dollar question, isn't

00:35:11.010 --> 00:35:13.389
it? Is he's building a bridge to a new kind of

00:35:13.389 --> 00:35:15.889
politics or is it a battering ram that will just

00:35:15.889 --> 00:35:18.130
deepen our division? I don't know the answer.

00:35:18.250 --> 00:35:19.789
Yeah, it's going to be fascinating to watch.

00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:22.269
It certainly will be. Thanks for listening to

00:35:22.269 --> 00:35:24.699
this deep dive. We'll see you next time. Welcome

00:35:24.699 --> 00:35:27.539
to The Debate. It is Wednesday, February 18,

00:35:27.900 --> 00:35:32.699
2026. I am the Advocate. And I am the Dissenter.

00:35:32.980 --> 00:35:37.519
So if you happen to tune into CBS on Monday night

00:35:37.519 --> 00:35:41.980
for The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, you probably

00:35:41.980 --> 00:35:46.289
noticed a pretty jarring edit. For I think the

00:35:46.289 --> 00:35:48.969
first time in a recent memory, a network actually

00:35:48.969 --> 00:35:52.650
pulled a guest segment just hours before it was

00:35:52.650 --> 00:35:55.730
supposed to air. And that guest was James Tallarico,

00:35:55.969 --> 00:35:59.690
the Texas state representative who is right now

00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:02.530
locked in a very heated primary for the U .S.

00:36:02.590 --> 00:36:07.130
Senate. A cancellation that has. arguably done

00:36:07.130 --> 00:36:09.449
more for his campaign than the interview itself

00:36:09.449 --> 00:36:12.489
ever would have. Absolutely. CBS said it was

00:36:12.489 --> 00:36:15.269
about regulatory concerns after, you know, getting

00:36:15.269 --> 00:36:17.230
pressure from the Trump administration about

00:36:17.230 --> 00:36:20.610
equal time rules for candidates. But Colbert,

00:36:20.889 --> 00:36:23.710
well, he did what he does. He filmed the interview

00:36:23.710 --> 00:36:27.309
anyway and just dropped it on YouTube. As of

00:36:27.309 --> 00:36:29.329
this morning, we're looking at what, four and

00:36:29.329 --> 00:36:32.210
a half million views? It's the most watched political

00:36:32.210 --> 00:36:35.500
segment of the year so far. It's the Streisand

00:36:35.500 --> 00:36:37.900
effect in its purest form. The administration

00:36:37.900 --> 00:36:40.760
tried to bury a state -level politician, and

00:36:40.760 --> 00:36:44.260
instead, he basically minted a national martyr

00:36:44.260 --> 00:36:47.019
for free speech. But we need to look past the

00:36:47.019 --> 00:36:49.079
media circus here. I mean, the viral numbers

00:36:49.079 --> 00:36:51.219
are impressive, sure, but they don't answer the

00:36:51.219 --> 00:36:53.599
question of who James Tallarico actually is.

00:36:53.800 --> 00:36:56.039
And that is exactly where we're going today.

00:36:56.730 --> 00:36:59.269
Tallarico is a really fascinating case study.

00:36:59.409 --> 00:37:02.130
He's a young white man in the South who speaks

00:37:02.130 --> 00:37:05.349
fluent evangelical Christian, yet he holds one

00:37:05.349 --> 00:37:06.989
of the most progressive voting records in the

00:37:06.989 --> 00:37:09.369
Texas House. He's running on a platform that

00:37:09.369 --> 00:37:12.969
explicitly fuses his theology with policy. And

00:37:12.969 --> 00:37:16.010
that fusion? That's the core of the tension we

00:37:16.010 --> 00:37:19.349
need to unpack. Is James Tallarico the blueprint

00:37:19.349 --> 00:37:22.409
for how Democrats can actually win back the heartland

00:37:22.409 --> 00:37:26.329
by reclaiming the moral language of faith? Or

00:37:26.329 --> 00:37:29.530
is he a performative partisan, a guy who uses

00:37:29.530 --> 00:37:32.869
the aesthetics of religion and these high stakes

00:37:32.869 --> 00:37:34.969
procedural stunts like shutting down the government

00:37:34.969 --> 00:37:37.250
to build a personal brand instead of actually

00:37:37.250 --> 00:37:39.710
governing? Well, I'm going to argue that Tallarico

00:37:39.710 --> 00:37:43.610
represents a necessary and, frankly, vital evolution

00:37:43.610 --> 00:37:46.630
in political strategy. We are watching a Democrat

00:37:46.630 --> 00:37:50.110
who absolutely refuses to cede the moral high

00:37:50.110 --> 00:37:53.139
ground to the right. He isn't just, you know,

00:37:53.159 --> 00:37:55.980
claiming faith as a cultural signifier. He is

00:37:55.980 --> 00:37:59.440
using a rigorous theological framework to dismantle

00:37:59.440 --> 00:38:02.420
Christian nationalism from the inside. And crucially,

00:38:02.519 --> 00:38:05.079
he backs it up with a real legislative record,

00:38:05.260 --> 00:38:07.699
including lifesaving wins like the insulin cost

00:38:07.699 --> 00:38:09.880
cap, which he passed in a hostile Republican

00:38:09.880 --> 00:38:12.639
legislature. And I'll be taking the opposing

00:38:12.639 --> 00:38:16.659
view. I see a career that's defined by contradiction

00:38:16.659 --> 00:38:20.969
and, frankly, by calculation. Tallarico champions

00:38:20.969 --> 00:38:23.889
the separation of church and state when it suits

00:38:23.889 --> 00:38:26.030
in, you know, tearing down the Ten Commandments

00:38:26.030 --> 00:38:29.369
in schools. Yet he campaigns explicitly from

00:38:29.369 --> 00:38:32.550
the pulpit. He says he wants to get things done,

00:38:32.690 --> 00:38:35.349
but then he engages in these radical obstructionist

00:38:35.349 --> 00:38:38.269
tactics that just stop the government from functioning.

00:38:38.510 --> 00:38:41.929
I argue Tallarico is less of a legislator and

00:38:41.929 --> 00:38:45.889
more of a content creator, surfing these waves

00:38:45.889 --> 00:38:48.800
of polarization for his own advancement. Let's

00:38:48.800 --> 00:38:50.880
start with the substance of the man, because

00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:53.300
it is easy to get lost in that content creator

00:38:53.300 --> 00:38:56.760
label, given his social media presence. But the

00:38:56.760 --> 00:38:59.500
resume, it tells a different story. Tyler Rico

00:38:59.500 --> 00:39:02.000
didn't come up through law school or some political

00:39:02.000 --> 00:39:05.280
dynasty. He started out as a middle school English

00:39:05.280 --> 00:39:08.360
teacher on the west side of San Antonio with

00:39:08.360 --> 00:39:12.219
Teach for America. Which is a noble start, but

00:39:12.219 --> 00:39:15.139
let's be honest. It's also become a fairly standard

00:39:15.139 --> 00:39:17.840
stepping stone for ambitious young politicals

00:39:17.840 --> 00:39:20.599
these days. Perhaps, but it grounded his policy

00:39:20.599 --> 00:39:23.619
perspective in reality. He went on to run a non

00:39:23.619 --> 00:39:26.440
-profit, Reasoning Mind, which focused on digital

00:39:26.440 --> 00:39:29.480
literacy in low -income schools. But the real

00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:31.719
differentiator and the thing that makes him such

00:39:31.719 --> 00:39:33.980
a puzzle for his opponents is his theological

00:39:33.980 --> 00:39:36.940
training. While he was serving in the Texas House,

00:39:37.079 --> 00:39:39.980
he earned a Master of Divinity from Austin Presbyterian

00:39:39.980 --> 00:39:42.800
Theological Seminary. A sitting legislator in

00:39:42.800 --> 00:39:45.920
seminary is unusual. I'll give you that. It is

00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:48.159
more than unusual. It's the key to his entire

00:39:48.159 --> 00:39:51.480
political project. Tallarico frames politics

00:39:51.480 --> 00:39:53.559
through the lens of the two great commandments,

00:39:53.840 --> 00:39:56.960
love God and love your neighbor. Now that can

00:39:56.960 --> 00:39:59.280
sound like Sunday school fluff until you look

00:39:59.280 --> 00:40:02.219
at something like House Bill 82. Tallarico is

00:40:02.219 --> 00:40:05.139
a type 1 diabetic. He knows the physical cost

00:40:05.139 --> 00:40:08.380
of the disease. In Texas, he was paying $684

00:40:08.380 --> 00:40:11.659
for a single month's supply of insulin. He took

00:40:11.659 --> 00:40:14.199
that personal struggle, applied that moral framework

00:40:14.199 --> 00:40:16.820
of neighborliness, and successfully passed a

00:40:16.820 --> 00:40:19.780
law capping insulin co -pays at $25 a month.

00:40:19.980 --> 00:40:23.139
Which is a significant victory. There's no question.

00:40:23.440 --> 00:40:26.179
It's massive. And he did it in a legislature

00:40:26.179 --> 00:40:29.820
completely controlled by the GOP. That proves

00:40:29.820 --> 00:40:32.940
he isn't just making noise. He's finding the

00:40:32.940 --> 00:40:35.460
moral leverage to force the majority to act.

00:40:35.659 --> 00:40:38.659
He didn't win that by shouting about data or

00:40:38.659 --> 00:40:41.880
economic theory. He won it by making a moral

00:40:41.880 --> 00:40:44.460
argument that Republicans just couldn't publicly

00:40:44.460 --> 00:40:47.480
vote against. I don't dispute the insulin cap.

00:40:47.719 --> 00:40:50.619
It's good policy. But you are highlighting the,

00:40:50.719 --> 00:40:53.079
let's call them the Mr. Smith goes to Washington

00:40:53.079 --> 00:40:55.500
moments, and you're ignoring the sharp elbows.

00:40:55.739 --> 00:40:58.800
Look at his district history. He started in House

00:40:58.800 --> 00:41:01.739
District 52, a true swing district. When the

00:41:01.739 --> 00:41:04.559
2021 redistricting made that seat redder, did

00:41:04.559 --> 00:41:07.039
he stay and fight for those neighbors he talks

00:41:07.039 --> 00:41:10.400
about? No. He moved to District 50, a safe blue

00:41:10.400 --> 00:41:13.820
seat. That is standard political survival in

00:41:13.820 --> 00:41:16.480
a state as aggressively gerrymandered as Texas.

00:41:16.760 --> 00:41:19.199
If he had stayed, he would have been drawn out

00:41:19.199 --> 00:41:22.849
of existence. It's political calculation. It

00:41:22.849 --> 00:41:25.690
suggests he's more interested in preserving his

00:41:25.690 --> 00:41:28.530
platform than in representing a specific community.

00:41:28.989 --> 00:41:31.329
And now he's running for the U .S. Senate against

00:41:31.329 --> 00:41:35.070
Jasmine Crockett. But my main issue is the inconsistency

00:41:35.070 --> 00:41:37.889
on religion. I mean, Tallarico made national

00:41:37.889 --> 00:41:40.309
headlines for tearing into a bill that would

00:41:40.309 --> 00:41:42.750
require the Ten Commandments in classrooms. He

00:41:42.750 --> 00:41:45.909
called it un -American. Because it violates the

00:41:45.909 --> 00:41:48.880
establishment clause of the Constitution. That's

00:41:48.880 --> 00:41:51.679
a consistent position. Is it, though? Because

00:41:51.679 --> 00:41:54.159
his campaign slogan is Medicare for y 'all, and

00:41:54.159 --> 00:41:56.800
he explicitly cites the Gospels to justify it.

00:41:56.900 --> 00:42:00.179
He is using religious authority to sell secular

00:42:00.179 --> 00:42:03.199
policy. You can't tell Republicans, keep your

00:42:03.199 --> 00:42:05.000
religion out of my schools, and then turn around

00:42:05.000 --> 00:42:07.420
and say, my religion demands you support universal

00:42:07.420 --> 00:42:10.000
health care. It creates a double standard where

00:42:10.000 --> 00:42:12.159
religious arguments are only valid if they support

00:42:12.159 --> 00:42:14.760
progressive outcomes. And this leads us directly

00:42:14.760 --> 00:42:17.900
into our first area of debate, the role of faith

00:42:17.900 --> 00:42:20.579
in politics. You're framing this as hypocrisy.

00:42:20.619 --> 00:42:23.619
I frame it as a battle for the very definition

00:42:23.619 --> 00:42:27.159
of Christianity itself. OK, explain that distinction

00:42:27.159 --> 00:42:30.440
to a secular voter who just sees another politician

00:42:30.440 --> 00:42:33.099
quoting the Bible. Telerico makes a distinction

00:42:33.099 --> 00:42:35.599
between civil religion and Christian nationalism.

00:42:36.519 --> 00:42:39.199
For our listeners, Christian nationalism is the

00:42:39.199 --> 00:42:41.179
belief that the American nation is defined by

00:42:41.179 --> 00:42:43.380
Christianity and that the government should take

00:42:43.380 --> 00:42:47.019
active steps to keep it that way. Tallarico calls

00:42:47.019 --> 00:42:50.300
this the worship of power, social and political

00:42:50.300 --> 00:42:53.480
domination disguised as faith. He argues that

00:42:53.480 --> 00:42:56.260
the far right has turned Jesus into a, I think

00:42:56.260 --> 00:43:00.179
his quote was, a gun -toting, gay -bashing, science

00:43:00.179 --> 00:43:03.460
-denying fascist. Strong words. But again, he

00:43:03.460 --> 00:43:05.820
is fighting fire with fire. He's fighting fire

00:43:05.820 --> 00:43:09.139
with water. When Tallarico speaks, he isn't trying

00:43:09.139 --> 00:43:11.860
to convert you to Presbyterianism. He is trying

00:43:11.860 --> 00:43:15.179
to rescue the moral vocabulary from being monopolized

00:43:15.179 --> 00:43:18.179
by authoritarians. He argues that true faith

00:43:18.179 --> 00:43:21.360
requires humility, not domination. But he is

00:43:21.360 --> 00:43:24.360
using the pulpit to endorse specific policy prescriptions.

00:43:25.050 --> 00:43:26.670
When he appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience

00:43:26.670 --> 00:43:30.389
back in July of 2025, which was a massive crossover

00:43:30.389 --> 00:43:32.969
moment, he wasn't just talking about spiritual

00:43:32.969 --> 00:43:36.010
wellness. He was directly connecting the Sermon

00:43:36.010 --> 00:43:38.610
on the Mount to specific tax policies and health

00:43:38.610 --> 00:43:41.650
care reforms. He is effectively saying, to be

00:43:41.650 --> 00:43:43.989
a good Christian, you must vote for the Democratic

00:43:43.989 --> 00:43:47.030
platform. No, he's saying that if you claim to

00:43:47.030 --> 00:43:49.250
follow a teacher who said, blessed are the poor,

00:43:49.489 --> 00:43:52.150
then you have to explain why your policies punish

00:43:52.150 --> 00:43:55.000
them. That is exactly what the religious right

00:43:55.000 --> 00:43:57.360
does. They say if you follow a God who creates

00:43:57.360 --> 00:44:00.340
life, you must ban abortion. They believe their

00:44:00.340 --> 00:44:02.780
policies are the logical output of their values,

00:44:02.980 --> 00:44:05.880
just as Tallarico does. Tallarico seems to be

00:44:05.880 --> 00:44:08.099
saying it's wrong when you use faith to shape

00:44:08.099 --> 00:44:10.519
policy because your interpretation is wrong,

00:44:10.639 --> 00:44:13.619
but it's righteous when I do it because my interpretation

00:44:13.619 --> 00:44:17.059
is correct. He sets himself up as the sole arbiter

00:44:17.059 --> 00:44:20.719
of true Christianity. The distinction is coercion

00:44:20.719 --> 00:44:23.619
versus inspiration. The Ten Commandments bill

00:44:23.619 --> 00:44:26.699
that was Senate Bill 1515 would have mandated

00:44:26.699 --> 00:44:29.940
a religious text in every public classroom. That

00:44:29.940 --> 00:44:32.920
is state -sponsored coercion. Tallarico advocating

00:44:32.920 --> 00:44:35.519
for insulin caps because of his faith doesn't

00:44:35.519 --> 00:44:38.760
force anyone to pray. It just makes insulin cheaper.

00:44:39.199 --> 00:44:42.219
One is imposing a religion. The other is acting

00:44:42.219 --> 00:44:45.639
from a religion. That distinction is intellectually

00:44:45.639 --> 00:44:49.460
tidy. I'll give you that. But in practice, it's

00:44:49.460 --> 00:44:52.829
messy. He is blurring the lines in a way that

00:44:52.829 --> 00:44:55.869
risks alienating the secular base of the Democratic

00:44:55.869 --> 00:44:59.090
Party. I mean, we have spent decades arguing

00:44:59.090 --> 00:45:01.869
for a secular government. And Tallarico comes

00:45:01.869 --> 00:45:04.909
along and says, actually, let's bring Jesus back

00:45:04.909 --> 00:45:07.130
into the Senate. But, you know, make him a socialist.

00:45:07.489 --> 00:45:10.309
It might work in a primary, but it fundamentally

00:45:10.309 --> 00:45:13.550
alters the party's stance on secularism. But

00:45:13.550 --> 00:45:16.019
look at the map. In a state like Texas, where

00:45:16.019 --> 00:45:18.500
cultural identity is so deeply tied to faith,

00:45:18.679 --> 00:45:21.440
you cannot win by simply shouting science or

00:45:21.440 --> 00:45:24.539
data. You have to speak the language of the heart.

00:45:25.380 --> 00:45:27.500
Tallarico is one of the only Democrats who's

00:45:27.500 --> 00:45:29.699
fluent in that language. He's meeting people

00:45:29.699 --> 00:45:32.860
where they are. Fluency is one thing. Weaponizing

00:45:32.860 --> 00:45:36.260
it is another. But let's pivot from his words

00:45:36.260 --> 00:45:39.539
to his actions. Because if his theology is all

00:45:39.539 --> 00:45:43.550
about... His legislative tactics are remarkably

00:45:43.550 --> 00:45:46.570
aggressive. You're referring to the quorum breaks.

00:45:46.869 --> 00:45:49.289
I am. Let's talk about legislative effectiveness

00:45:49.289 --> 00:45:52.170
versus obstructionism. For our listeners who

00:45:52.170 --> 00:45:55.639
aren't steeped in parliamentary procedure. Breaking

00:45:55.639 --> 00:45:58.219
quorum means denying the legislature the minimum

00:45:58.219 --> 00:46:00.679
number of members it needs to do business. In

00:46:00.679 --> 00:46:02.760
Texas, two -thirds of the House has to be present

00:46:02.760 --> 00:46:05.420
to vote. So if enough members leave, the government

00:46:05.420 --> 00:46:08.159
just stops. It's a valid parliamentary tool.

00:46:08.460 --> 00:46:11.500
It's used by minority parties to pause dangerous

00:46:11.500 --> 00:46:15.059
legislation. It is the nuclear option. In 2021,

00:46:15.440 --> 00:46:17.599
Tallarico and his colleagues fled the state.

00:46:17.719 --> 00:46:20.559
They flew to Washington, D .C. on private jets

00:46:20.559 --> 00:46:23.699
to stop a voting rights bill. Then, just last

00:46:23.699 --> 00:46:27.440
August in 2025, he was part of the 51 Democrats

00:46:27.440 --> 00:46:29.760
who walked out over the new congressional maps.

00:46:30.019 --> 00:46:32.840
I mean, this isn't debating. This is taking your

00:46:32.840 --> 00:46:35.119
ball and going home because you're losing the

00:46:35.119 --> 00:46:38.019
game. But you have to look at the stakes. In

00:46:38.019 --> 00:46:42.500
2021, the bill in question, SB7, would have drastically

00:46:42.500 --> 00:46:44.960
restricted voting hours. It would have empowered

00:46:44.960 --> 00:46:48.079
partisan poll watchers to harass voters and limited

00:46:48.079 --> 00:46:50.500
drive -through voting. It was an existential

00:46:50.500 --> 00:46:53.760
threat to the democratic process. When the rules

00:46:53.760 --> 00:46:56.039
of the game are being rigged to ensure permanent

00:46:56.039 --> 00:46:58.500
minority rule for Republicans, you don't just

00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:01.340
debate and lose gracefully. You flip the table.

00:47:01.599 --> 00:47:04.659
Okay, but where does that end? This is the precedent

00:47:04.659 --> 00:47:07.980
argument. If Republicans in a blue state, let's

00:47:07.980 --> 00:47:10.760
say California, fled the state to stop a climate

00:47:10.760 --> 00:47:13.420
change bill or gun safety legislation, would

00:47:13.420 --> 00:47:16.179
you call that a valid parliamentary tool? Or

00:47:16.179 --> 00:47:19.409
would you call it an assault on democracy? I

00:47:19.409 --> 00:47:21.389
would look at the content of the bill. If the

00:47:21.389 --> 00:47:23.750
bill restricts the fundamental right to vote,

00:47:23.849 --> 00:47:26.750
then resistance becomes a moral obligation. Not

00:47:26.750 --> 00:47:29.150
all bills are created equal. That's a subjective

00:47:29.150 --> 00:47:32.469
baseline that relies on your side always being

00:47:32.469 --> 00:47:35.170
the moral one. My point is about the degradation

00:47:35.170 --> 00:47:38.469
of the institution. By normalizing the shutdown

00:47:38.469 --> 00:47:41.550
of the legislature, Tallarico is eroding the

00:47:41.550 --> 00:47:44.750
very system he claims he wants to save. And look

00:47:44.750 --> 00:47:47.510
at the result. In 2021, they stayed away for

00:47:47.510 --> 00:47:49.860
weeks. They got a lot of cable news airtime,

00:47:49.940 --> 00:47:52.099
but eventually they had to come back, and the

00:47:52.099 --> 00:47:54.960
bill passed anyway. So what was achieved other

00:47:54.960 --> 00:47:58.440
than, well, celebrity? This is where the nuance

00:47:58.440 --> 00:48:01.239
of Tallarico's position is crucial, and it's

00:48:01.239 --> 00:48:03.559
where he actually showed real leadership. He

00:48:03.559 --> 00:48:06.400
wasn't the last one holding out in D .C. Do you

00:48:06.400 --> 00:48:08.800
remember his role in The Return? He came back

00:48:08.800 --> 00:48:11.159
earlier than the main group, yes. He broke with

00:48:11.159 --> 00:48:14.280
his own party leadership. He argued that the

00:48:14.280 --> 00:48:16.519
quorum break had achieved its tactical goal,

00:48:16.739 --> 00:48:19.340
drawing national attention and delaying the bill,

00:48:19.480 --> 00:48:22.900
but that an indefinite stalemate was unsustainable.

00:48:23.059 --> 00:48:25.880
He took immense heat from fellow Democrats for

00:48:25.880 --> 00:48:28.119
that. Some in his own caucus called him a traitor.

00:48:28.599 --> 00:48:31.059
That shows he isn't a radical obstructionist.

00:48:31.179 --> 00:48:33.800
He's a pragmatist who knows when to use a hammer

00:48:33.800 --> 00:48:36.659
and when to put it down. Or it demonstrates he

00:48:36.659 --> 00:48:38.960
keeps a finger to the wind. He got the headlines

00:48:38.960 --> 00:48:41.519
from the walkout, he milked the national interviews,

00:48:41.699 --> 00:48:43.440
and then he avoided the worst of the consequences

00:48:43.440 --> 00:48:45.420
like the civil arrest warrants by coming back

00:48:45.420 --> 00:48:48.739
early. It feels opportunistic. And frankly, that

00:48:48.739 --> 00:48:51.539
stunt in 2025 over the maps led to Attorney General

00:48:51.539 --> 00:48:53.500
Ken Paxton suing to have their seats declared

00:48:53.500 --> 00:48:55.960
vacant. That is a constitutional crisis that

00:48:55.960 --> 00:48:58.780
Tallaraco helped invite. A crisis invited by

00:48:58.780 --> 00:49:01.880
Ken Paxton is hardly Tallarico's fault. I mean,

00:49:01.900 --> 00:49:04.219
Paxton will sue a ham sandwich if he thinks I'm

00:49:04.219 --> 00:49:07.059
a play on Fox News. But Tallarico's ability to

00:49:07.059 --> 00:49:10.139
navigate that chaos is why he's effective. And

00:49:10.139 --> 00:49:12.039
we can't ignore the fact that when he is in the

00:49:12.039 --> 00:49:15.579
building, he passes bills. Javier Ambler's law

00:49:15.579 --> 00:49:18.420
banning reality TV crews like Live PD from riding

00:49:18.420 --> 00:49:20.679
with police, that came out of a horrific tragedy.

00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:23.400
Tallarico built a coalition with Libertarian

00:49:23.400 --> 00:49:25.880
Republicans to get that done. That is not the

00:49:25.880 --> 00:49:28.900
work of a show pony. I will give you Javier Ambler's

00:49:28.900 --> 00:49:31.639
law. That was skillful coalition building, and

00:49:31.639 --> 00:49:34.119
it required actual legislative grinding, not

00:49:34.119 --> 00:49:36.559
just speeches. But it stands in stark contrast

00:49:36.559 --> 00:49:38.679
to his current trajectory, which seems aimed

00:49:38.679 --> 00:49:41.480
squarely at the cameras, which, you know, brings

00:49:41.480 --> 00:49:43.579
us back to this week. The Colbert controversy.

00:49:43.940 --> 00:49:46.460
The Colbert controversy, the view investigation,

00:49:46.860 --> 00:49:49.980
the Jubilee video. We have to discuss his national

00:49:49.980 --> 00:49:52.800
ambition. I argue the events of the last 48 hours

00:49:52.800 --> 00:49:55.280
prove his effectiveness. The Trump administration

00:49:55.280 --> 00:49:57.960
does not pressure a network to silence a state

00:49:57.960 --> 00:50:00.000
representative unless they are afraid of his

00:50:00.000 --> 00:50:02.760
message. They know that Tallarico appeals to

00:50:02.760 --> 00:50:05.000
the exact demographic they need to hold on to,

00:50:05.099 --> 00:50:08.340
working class religious voters. Or they're just

00:50:08.340 --> 00:50:10.739
petty and litigious, which is also a hallmark

00:50:10.739 --> 00:50:13.440
of this administration. But look at where Tallarico

00:50:13.440 --> 00:50:15.820
is spending his time. He was in that Jubilee

00:50:15.820 --> 00:50:19.460
video, one Texas Democrat versus 25 undecided

00:50:19.460 --> 00:50:22.320
voters. It plays out like a game show. He is

00:50:22.320 --> 00:50:24.559
debating random people on the internet for truntent.

00:50:24.780 --> 00:50:27.280
Is he running for the United States Senate or

00:50:27.280 --> 00:50:30.360
is he auditioning for a spot on MSNBC? You call

00:50:30.360 --> 00:50:32.920
it content creation. I call it modern campaigning.

00:50:33.079 --> 00:50:37.000
If you aren't viral, you aren't visible. But

00:50:37.000 --> 00:50:39.320
look at the simplification that's required to

00:50:39.320 --> 00:50:43.079
succeed in that arena. Medicare for y 'all. A

00:50:43.079 --> 00:50:45.539
welcome mat with a lock on the door for immigration.

00:50:46.019 --> 00:50:49.860
These are slogans, not policies. They are metaphors

00:50:49.860 --> 00:50:52.519
that communicate complex values instantly. A

00:50:52.519 --> 00:50:54.500
welcome mat with a lock explains that we can

00:50:54.500 --> 00:50:56.780
be a nation of immigrants and a nation of laws,

00:50:57.039 --> 00:50:59.400
a nuance that usually gets lost in the screaming

00:50:59.400 --> 00:51:02.000
match. He is simplifying without dumbing down.

00:51:02.340 --> 00:51:06.159
I disagree. Medicare for y 'all is a catchy hook,

00:51:06.300 --> 00:51:09.679
but it glosses over the massive economic restructuring

00:51:09.679 --> 00:51:12.980
required to actually implement it. And he's running

00:51:12.980 --> 00:51:16.139
against Jasmine Crockett. who has her own national

00:51:16.139 --> 00:51:19.000
profile but is seen as a fighter for the base.

00:51:19.619 --> 00:51:22.380
Tallarica was trying to craft this religious

00:51:22.380 --> 00:51:25.480
left lean that might not actually exist in the

00:51:25.480 --> 00:51:28.619
electorate. He risks alienating the secular progressive

00:51:28.619 --> 00:51:32.119
base, who are suspicious of any Jesus talk, while

00:51:32.119 --> 00:51:34.619
failing to peel off enough evangelicals who are

00:51:34.619 --> 00:51:37.559
locked into the GOP culture war. It's a high

00:51:37.559 --> 00:51:41.079
wire act with no safety net. And that risk is

00:51:41.079 --> 00:51:43.380
exactly why he is the most interesting politician

00:51:43.380 --> 00:51:45.840
in the country right now. If he pulls this off,

00:51:45.980 --> 00:51:48.440
if he can unite the multiracial working class

00:51:48.440 --> 00:51:51.320
with disaffected voters of faith, he cracks the

00:51:51.320 --> 00:51:53.860
code that has baffled Democrats for 20 years.

00:51:54.079 --> 00:51:56.679
He offers a kind of permission structure for

00:51:56.679 --> 00:51:59.679
religious voters to vote blue again. If is doing

00:51:59.679 --> 00:52:02.480
a lot of heavy lifting in that sentence. Let's

00:52:02.480 --> 00:52:05.380
bring this to a close. James Tallarico is attempting

00:52:05.380 --> 00:52:07.760
something that hasn't been done successfully

00:52:07.760 --> 00:52:11.019
in modern Texas politics. He is fusing the moral

00:52:11.019 --> 00:52:13.400
authority of the church with the policy goals

00:52:13.400 --> 00:52:15.869
of the left. He has the legislative receipts,

00:52:15.929 --> 00:52:19.130
insulin, police reform to show it's not just

00:52:19.130 --> 00:52:21.289
talk. And the fact that the White House tried

00:52:21.289 --> 00:52:24.210
to silence him this week suggests they know exactly

00:52:24.210 --> 00:52:26.030
how dangerous he could be to their coalition.

00:52:26.409 --> 00:52:29.489
He is certainly talented and he is undeniably

00:52:29.489 --> 00:52:32.170
charismatic. But I remain skeptical of the method.

00:52:32.630 --> 00:52:34.829
Blurring the lines between church and state,

00:52:34.909 --> 00:52:38.489
even for good causes, degrades our secular institutions.

00:52:38.909 --> 00:52:42.179
And engaging in procedural warfare like... Quorum

00:52:42.179 --> 00:52:44.699
busting sets a precedent that will inevitably

00:52:44.699 --> 00:52:47.880
be used against Democrats in the future. Tallarico

00:52:47.880 --> 00:52:50.539
is betting that his personal brand can overcome

00:52:50.539 --> 00:52:53.800
the structural gravity of Texas politics. And

00:52:53.800 --> 00:52:55.820
I'm just not sure that's a bet I would take.

00:52:56.119 --> 00:52:58.739
The Senate primary will be the ultimate test

00:52:58.739 --> 00:53:01.199
of that theory. We encourage you to watch the

00:53:01.199 --> 00:53:03.380
Colbert interview since CBS couldn't stop you

00:53:03.380 --> 00:53:06.099
and look at the legislative record on House Bill

00:53:06.099 --> 00:53:10.920
82 and SB 7. Right. Read the bills. Watch the

00:53:10.920 --> 00:53:18.860
clips. Until next time.