James Talarico is a Presbyterian pastor who also serves in the Texas House of Representatives since 2018. He is also an anomaly for US ‘Christian’ politicians, because he vocally opposes Israel’s genocide and refuses Israel lobby cash.
James Talarico: an anomaly?
Unlike typical US ‘Christian’ nationalists, he has a long track record on the right side of history when it comes to Israel and on issues like poverty. Unlike them, he does this by applying his Christian faith and the bible to his political views on things like, well, Israel and poverty.
James Talarico has spoken both in the Texas senate and from his pulpit on the Christian obligation to fight injustices. He says he wants to “flip tables like Jesus”, upsetting established orders that oppress instead of shoring them up:
Even more so now. Talarico has announced that he is standing in the ‘primary’ to become Democrat candidate to represent Texas in the national senate. He says he is standing because the Democratic party is not doing its job. He has refused to say he will support the party’s Israel-fanatic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, who titles himself “Guardian of Israel” (Shomer Yisroel). He is also clear that the Democrats lost youth votes in 2024 for their collusion in Israel’s genocide:
One of the primary reasons that the Democratic Party lost young voters in particular last election was our party’s failure to recognize the moral disaster in Gaza.
Naturally, such positions and ambitions have created horror among the US Israel and corporate lobbies (which often overlap to the point of matching). Texas Zionists are described as “alarmed” by James Talarico’s candidacy because he states frankly that Netanyahu is a war criminal. He also supports an arms ban:
I will not use your tax dollars to fund these war crimes. I will vote to ban offensive weapons to Israel…
…I refuse to be complicit in the death and destruction in Gaza, and I will never use your tax dollars to support the killing in that part of the world, and it makes me sick to my stomach to see what’s happening.
I hope in this campaign here in Texas we can send a crystal clear message to the rest of the country that we are done being complicit.
James Talarico speaks about Gaza. pic.twitter.com/6qL5FOfalJ
—
(@KaoticLeftist) December 19, 2025
One to watch
The Israel lobby, naturally, is already fighting his campaign. A measure of the extent to which James Talarico frightens the lobby is shown in the fact that it says it will support Black congresswoman Jasmine Crockett, a relative left-winger but weak on Palestine, against him. This could change, they say, but only (of course) if Talarico addresses their ‘concerns’.
He is showing no sign of compromise, though.
In an interview last weekend he said that he will never accept cash from lobby group AIPAC, then went on to say God is “screaming” at Israel’s slaughter of children:
View this post on Instagram
James Talarico is someone to keep an eye on for the right reasons. A rare example of a ‘Christian’ US politician who isn’t disgracing his faith.
Featured image via the Canary
By Skwawkbox
From Canary via This RSS Feed.