Name: Rep. James Talarico On Confronting Christian Nationalism, And Strange Days In The Texas Legislature
Uploaded: 2026-02-22T21:39:40.000Z
Duration: 14 min 56 s
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Adverbs of manner

Ladies and gentlemen, joining me now is a representative in the Texas State House who is currently running for the United States Senate.

Please welcome to The Late Show YouTube page.

if people are watching this right now, it's because they found us online on YouTube.

I did an act of the show that's on tonight explaining why it's not the first time you've caused so much some drama.

FCC opening probe into the View after appearance by Talarico.

I think that Donald Trump is worried that we're about to flip Texas.

And stephen, This is the party that ran against cancel culture.

And now they're trying to control what we watch, what we say, what we read.

And this is the most dangerous kind of cancel culture, the kind that comes from the top.

They, they went after the View because I went on there.

They went after Jimmy Kimmel for telling a joke they didn't like.

They went after you for telling the truth about Paramount's bribe to Donald Trump.

Corporate, corporate, corporate media executives are selling out the First Amendment to curry favor with corrupt politicians.

And a threat to any of our First Amendment rights is a threat to all of our First Amendment rights.

My network said our cancellation was a purely financial decision.

And I remain very grateful for the last 11 years.

They give you the adult boots as a child and you grow into them.

You served in the Texas House and now you're running for Senate.

The race, frankly, should not be as interesting as it is.

Why do you think this year Texas is considered a possibility by Democrats?

My family has been in our state since it was Mexico and across.

So you're going to get deported is what you're saying.

Across the state, there is a backlash growing to the extremism and the corruption in our politics.

And I have traveled every corner of Texas already, from El Paso to Beaumont, from Amarillo to Brownsville.

And we've had thousands of Texans showing up to rally with us.

And I can't tell you the number of people who come up to me at the end of these events and whisper, I'm not a Democrat, like it's some kind of secret.

And we've recruited 14,000 volunteers who are out there doing the work all over our state.

We have, this is one of the most exciting parts.

We have shattered grassroots fundraising records, all without taking a dime from corporate PACs.

And so this is, this is really, it's a people powered movement to take back our state and take back our country.

And I feel like we're building something really special in Texas.

Now, one of the things, one of the things that's come up in some of the conversations you've had on the Texas State House floor, which some of the videos I've seen you do is, and

one of the things that's gotten you attention out there is that you are a Presbyterian seminarian presently.

The right attempts to co opt Christianity to say that, you know, you can't believe in God.

I think Donald Trump might have said something like that at the National Prayer Breakfast.

Like, you can't actually be a Christian, be a Democrat.

But the religious right is, it's largely a political movement that references spirituality, but it's a political.

What do you, what is your, what is your heartfelt hand out to the people who want to use religion as a tool of political power?

Well, for 50 years, the religious right, a political movement that is the perfect description for it, they convinced a lot of our fellow Christians that the most important issues were abortion and gay marriage.

Two issues that aren't mentioned in the Bible.

Two issues that Jesus never talked about.

Jesus in Matthew 25 tells us exactly how you and I and every one of our fellow believers, how we're going to be judged and how we're going to be saved by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger.

Nothing about going to church, nothing about voting Republican.

It was all about how you treat other people.

I've said before, don't tell me what you believe.

Show me how you treat other people and I'll tell you what you believe.

And I think in our faith, we've got to get back to those.

My granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas.

And when I was little, he told me that Christianity is a simple religion.

Not an easy religion, he would always clarify, but a simple religion.

Because Jesus gave us two commandments, love God and love neighbor.

And there was no exception to that second commandment, love thy neighbor, regardless of race or gender or sexual orientation or immigration status or religious affiliation.

And it's Why I have fought so hard for the separation of church and state in the state capitol in Texas.

Well, I want to, I want to ask you about that.

Because you did as a, as a state rep, you fought against the, a bill requiring the Ten Commandments to be displayed in schools.

Why, even on that level, do you think it's important to keep the separation not just for the state, but

Well, because we are called to love all of our neighbors, including our Muslim, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, agnostic, atheist neighbors.

And forcing our religion down their throats is not love.

And it's why I have fought, it's why I fought so hard for that sacred separation in our First Amendment.

Because my granddad, he raised me to believe that that boundary between church and state doesn't just benefit the state or our democracy, although it certainly does, but

Because when the church gets too cozy with political power, it loses its prophetic voice, its ability to speak truth to power, its ability to imagine a completely different world.

And so this separation between church and state is something we have to safeguard, it's something we have to fight for.

And I think we need someone in the US Senate who is going to confront Christian nationalism and say.

And tell the truth, which is that there is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism.

It is the worship of power in the name of Christ and it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth.

And I just want to thank you, Stephen, because I know you're not a politician, but