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James Talarico: “I've said before that democracy is a spiritual practice.”

Featuring: James Talarico, Democratic | Texas House of Representatives, District 50

James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back

Published May 14, 2026 | Video Starts at 52:18

Like, we get to shape our destinies together. And that requires that we enter into this work with kind of a spiritual mindset. I've said before that democracy is a spiritual practice. And so I think if we could get to this sacramental kind of politics where we handle each other with more care, where we see each other as. (52:18–52:22)

CLAIM

Asserts that he views democracy as a spiritual practice.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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James Talarico

“We passed a bill that caps insulin co-pays in Texas at $25 per prescription.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 26:19-26:30
“90% of baby boomers went on to earn more money than their parents.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:06:52-1:06:57
“For millennials, it's 50% [who earn more than their parents].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:07:02-1:07:06
“For Gen Z, it's even lower than that [50%].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:07:02-1:07:08
“Elon Musk is now on track to become the world's first trillionaire.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:07:44-1:07:49
“All the wealth that's been created over the last 50 years has gone to the top 1%.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:11:33-1:11:38
“The average Texan pays about 14% of their income in federal income taxes.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:13:17-1:13:24
“The 400 wealthiest Americans pay half that as a percentage [of their income].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:13:24-1:13:30
“I would define Christian nationalism as the worship of power in the name of Christ.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 01:45-01:51
“The President of the United States just said that I insulted Jesus.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 02:02-02:09
“Kicking the sick off their health care while cutting taxes for billionaires [insults Jesus].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 02:12-02:17
“Covering up the Epstein files and then refusing to prosecute a single person in them [insults Jesus].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 02:20-02:27
“Ken Paxton's crimes are well known. I was part of the bipartisan majority in the Texas House that voted to impeach our corrupt attorney…”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 04:10-1:21:24
“We have 40,000 people who have signed up to volunteer for our campaign.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 09:36-09:41
“I've done rallies and town halls now in every corner of Texas, from Beaumont to El Paso, from Amarillo up in the Panhandle, all the way down…”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 10:47-11:01
“I do feel like we are building a coalition that is bigger than the Democratic Party. It's bigger than the Republican Party.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 11:34-11:40
“The reason I signed up to be a public school teacher on the west side of San Antonio was that commandment to love my neighbor as myself.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 16:45-16:53
“The reason I ran for the State House was to try to follow that commandment and to try to craft public policies that are going to help my…”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 16:53-17:02
“I was able to pass those bills because I was able to love my colleagues, my neighbors in the state legislature.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 17:06-17:15
“Anyone who's read the New Testament quickly finds out that those are the neighbors we're specifically called to love.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 18:26-18:35
“Elected officials are attempting to use their power to force their understanding of Christianity on others.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 21:23-21:41
“Theocracy is the most dangerous form of government.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 22:50-23:02
“In my first campaign in 2018, I walked the entire length of my district from Round Rock, Texas, to Taylor, Texas.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 23:33-23:46
“A normal blood sugar is 100 or lower. Mine was 900.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 25:22-25:27
“A 30-day supply of insulin cost me $684.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 25:51-25:59
“Texans with diabetes are rationing or skipping doses because they can't afford their insulin.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 25:58-26:14
“There's no way in the Texas legislature for me to pass anything without Republican support.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 27:08-27:13
“One party rule always leads to extremism and corruption, whether it's the Republican Party in Texas or the Democratic Party elsewhere.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 28:40-28:48
“We've had one party rule for 30 years [in Texas].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 28:56-29:02
“This seat that I'm running for is LYNDON Johnson seat, LBJ's Senate seat.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 31:53-31:58
“LBJ... I'm talking about Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start and Title one, the War on Poverty, Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 31:58-32:38
“I think it just reveals a hunger for someone under the age of 80 to run for office.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 34:21-34:30
“I represent [the apartment with the nursery in the closet] in my legislative district.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 38:41-38:50
“I certainly wouldn't be running for the US Senate if it wasn't for her [my mom].”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 39:51-39:59
“I take that impulse of speaking truth to power and I do it on the House floor on behalf of my constituents.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 44:23-44:29
“Calling out big pharma, calling out, you know, billionaire mega donors.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 44:28-44:33
“The hope is that we're going to build a Texas that's worthy of her.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 48:13-48:17
“Will she have, you know, good public schools to go to? Will she have clean air, clean water? Will she have all her rights?”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 48:19-48:27
“I don't worry about my safety. I do worry about this democracy and whether it can sustain this level of political violence.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 50:41-50:53
“Democracy is in trouble both here and abroad.”
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“We take precautions to keep me and, and the team safe, keep our supporters safe at events.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 50:59-51:06
“We've taken precautions to make sure that everyone is protected.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 54:31-54:35
“I fought so hard against a lot of these efforts to censor or ban books in Texas.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 59:33-59:40
“I've made the commitment not to take corporate PAC money.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:03:06-1:03:10
“I've never taken corporate PAC money in my time in legislature.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:03:10-1:03:14
“98% of the donations are under a hundred dollars.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:03:32-1:03:35
“The most common profession out of all of our donors is teacher.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:03:37-1:03:42
“The structure of the economy itself has changed over the last 50 years.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:07:24-1:07:29
“The structure of our political system...over the last 50 years were corrupted by the wealthiest people in this country.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:07:29-1:07:41
“If I'm putting my hard-earned taxes into Medicaid to cover employees at Walmart, that means that I am subsidizing Walmart's profit margins.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:14:12-1:14:26
“Public safety is the most important thing the government does.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:16:35-1:16:39
“I have a record in the state legislature of supporting policies that promote public safety, supporting law enforcement, supporting border…”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:17:15-1:17:32
“I've fought for both those policies at the state capitol, fought to have resources to crack down on crime, and fought for justice reforms.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:18:16-1:18:26
“John Cornyn was first elected to public office six years before I was born.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:19:58-1:20:04
“John Cornyn was the deciding vote on that big, ugly bill last year...going to kick millions of Texans off their health care.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:21:37-1:21:50
“It's going to take food out of the mouths of hungry Texas children, all to give yet another tax break to John Cornyn's billionaire mega…”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:21:50-1:22:00
“Ken Paxton was impeached for using his public office to enrich his donors in a very literal, illegal way.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:22:00-1:22:07
“John Cornyn, at a massive scale, is using his public office to enrich his donors.”
James Talarico The Interview: Fighting to Flip Tables + Take Texas, Christianity & the Country Back | Uploaded May 14, 2026 | 1:22:08-1:22:14