Texas state Rep. James Talarico, the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate, went on CNN to condemn a federal appeals court ruling that upheld a Texas law requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public school classrooms, and called the decision not just unconstitutional but "deeply unChristian." Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton fired back within hours, calling Talarico "completely and totally morally bankrupt."
The clash lays bare a fault line heading into a Texas Senate race that could become one of the most ideologically charged in the country. On one side: a self-described Christian and Presbyterian seminarian who says the government has no business putting scripture on classroom walls. On the other: a sitting attorney general who says the Ten Commandments shaped the nation and belong in front of students every day.
The question isn't whether Talarico has the right to his theology. He does. The question is whether voters, especially Texas voters, will accept a candidate who wraps progressive orthodoxy in pastoral language and then lectures the right about what Christianity really means.
During the interview, a CNN host noted that a federal appeals court had ruled the Texas law does not violate the Constitution. The host then quoted Paxton's public statement and asked Talarico to respond. Breitbart reported the full exchange, which included Paxton's original remark:
"This is a major victory for Texas and our moral values. The Ten Commandments have had a profound impact on our nation, and it's important that students learn from them every single day."
Talarico opened his response with a jab at Paxton's authority on morality, then pivoted to a personal story about his grandfather, a Baptist preacher in South Texas. He said his grandfather taught him that Christianity boils down to two commandments: love God and love your neighbor.
"My faith teaches me to love my neighbor as myself, not just my neighbors who look like me, not just my neighbors who vote like me, not just my neighbors who pray like me. I'm called to love all of my neighbors the way I love myself."
From there, Talarico listed Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, agnostic, and atheist neighbors and said he didn't want anyone, especially the government, "forcing a religion down my throat." He described himself as "a vocal critic of Christian nationalism" in the Texas House and "the most vocal defender of the separation of church and state."
He went further, arguing that the church itself suffers when it gets too close to political power. Fox News reported Talarico told CNN: "I'm a Christian, but I know that the most dangerous form of government is theocracy."
Paxton did not let the remarks sit. In a post on X, the attorney general went straight at Talarico's broader record:
"James Talarico says God commands us to believe in six genders, support late-term abortion, and abuse children by 'transitioning' them. He's completely and totally morally bankrupt."
That response points to a pattern that goes well beyond the Ten Commandments debate. And it's a pattern Talarico himself has built in public, on the record, over years.
Talarico has spent years blending progressive social positions with religious framing. During the legislative debate over the 2025 Texas law requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms, he said the mandate "does violence to both Christianity and Judaism." He argued there are "way more than Ten Commandments in the Jewish tradition, 613 mitzvot" and that the bill "picks and chooses one version, promotes it in public schools, and ignores the beautiful diversity of both faiths."
In a 2022 church sermon, Talarico said Texas abortion restrictions meant "every one of our neighbors with a uterus became the property of the state," and added, "nothing, nothing is more unchristian than that." He has also said publicly, "Our trans community needs abortion care too," and "Defending trans Texans is something we have to do every day at the state capitol."
Talarico has a history of controversial public statements that have drawn scrutiny from conservatives well before this Senate race began.
In July 2025, during an appearance on The Joe Rogan Experience, Talarico offered a theological argument for abortion rights. He said, "God comes over Mary and we have the Incarnation... God asks for Mary's consent," and argued that "creation has to be done with consent" and "you cannot force someone to create." He called abortion access "absolutely consistent with the ministry and life and death of Jesus."
That's not a mainstream Christian position in any denomination most Texas churchgoers would recognize. It's a theological claim that reframes the Incarnation itself as a consent narrative to justify abortion, and Talarico delivered it on one of the largest podcasts in the world.
His outreach to Muslim Texans has been similarly pointed. In May 2021, Talarico introduced House Bill 2039 to add imams to the list of religious officials who can perform marriage ceremonies in Texas. He wrote: "Texas has the largest population of Muslims in the country. Today I introduced legislation to add Imams to the list of religious officials who can perform marriage ceremonies in our state. As-salamu alaykum, y'all." He also thanked Muslim activists and the organization @EmgageAction for testifying at a hearing on the bill.
As far back as 2017, Talarico posted, "Proud to stand with our Muslim neighbors today. Texas is big enough for all of us. #NoBanNoWall."
None of this is hidden. Talarico has been building this brand openly, and it's a brand that consistently raises questions about the gap between his public image and his political operation.
Talarico secured the Democrat nomination for U.S. Senate after defeating Rep. Jasmine Crockett in the primary. On the Republican side, Paxton is running against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn in a primary runoff, and the polling suggests Paxton holds a clear advantage.
A Texas Public Opinion Research poll of 1,225 likely Republican runoff voters, conducted April 6, 7, found Paxton leading Cornyn 48 percent to 40 percent, with 11 percent undecided. Paxton led by 18 points among Latino voters, five points among white voters, and by 69 points among voters aged 18 to 34. Fifty-eight percent of Republican voters said Paxton is more aligned with the Make America Great Again agenda, compared to 22 percent for Cornyn.
If Paxton wins the runoff, the general election matchup would pit the attorney general who championed the Ten Commandments ruling against the seminarian who called it unconstitutional and unChristian. In Texas, that contrast does not favor the Democrat.
Talarico's media profile has grown rapidly. His recent appearance on Colbert generated its own round of controversy, and he has faced separate criticism over alleged remarks about a fellow Democrat. The CNN interview is the latest in a string of national media moments that seem designed to build a progressive-Christian brand for a national audience.
Talarico frames himself as a defender of authentic Christianity against political exploitation. But his version of authentic Christianity happens to align, point for point, with the Democratic Party's platform on abortion, gender ideology, immigration, and the role of religion in public life. At some point, the question stops being about theology and starts being about politics wearing a clerical collar.
He told CNN that "the only thing worse than a tyrant is a tyrant who thinks they're on a mission from God." Fair enough. But what about a politician who claims God's authority for every progressive position he holds, from abortion access to gender ideology to opposing the display of the Ten Commandments in a classroom?
Talarico says he doesn't want the government forcing religion on anyone. Yet he routinely invokes his own religious beliefs to justify policy positions, from the floor of the Texas House to the pulpit to Joe Rogan's microphone. The separation of church and state, it seems, applies only when the church in question isn't his.
Paxton's response was blunt. Whether voters find it persuasive will depend on whether they see Talarico as a sincere man of faith or as a politician who has learned that quoting Scripture on cable news is an effective way to sell progressive policy to an audience that might otherwise reject it.
Texas voters will sort that out. But if Talarico thinks calling the Ten Commandments "unChristian" is a winning message in a state where church parking lots fill up every Sunday, he may be studying the wrong congregation.
