Rep. James Talarico
About 20 minutes into his appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, Texas Rep. James Talarico started making his case that the Bible sanctions abortion.
In the Book of Luke, the Austin Democrat noted, Mary has a vision from God that she’s going to give birth to a baby who will bring down the powerful from their thrones. But, critically, before she becomes pregnant, Talarico said, an angel “asks Mary if this is something she wants to do, and she says, ‘if it is God’s will, let it be done.’”
“To me, that is an affirmation in one of our most central stories that creation has to be done with consent. You cannot force someone to create,” Talarico, an aspiring Presbyterian minister and U.S. senator, told Rogan, arguing “the idea that there is a set Christian orthodoxy on the issue of abortion is just not rooted in Scripture.”
He went on to accuse the religious right of prioritizing abortion bans and “control” of pregnant mothers, rather than reducing miscarriages and protecting children through expanded health care access.
“I think that’s what we see across this Christian nationalist movement,” Talarico said. “This is religion at its worst: trying to control people and what they do.”
It was archetypal Talarico fare, blending religion and a progressive, populist politics on a digital platform made to reach millions. The appearance on Rogan’s show was only the latest in a string of viral hits this year for the devoutly Christian Democrat, who has garnered an enormous following online from videos that show him sermonizing about how religion informs his liberal worldview and debating his Republican colleagues in the Texas House over their efforts to infuse religion into public life.
By the end of the podcast episode — in which Talarico also wielded Scripture to defend gay rights, argue against religion in public schools and explain his work in the Legislature to lower the cost of prescription drugs — Rogan, who endorsed Donald Trump for the White House in 2024, told Talarico he “needs to run for president,” catapulting the four-term state lawmaker across the internet and making national headlines.
Instead, Talarico is embarking on a long-shot attempt to parlay his budding stardom into a winning 2026 bid for U.S. Senate, betting that a message grounded in faith and taking back power for working Texans will be enough to break through in a state littered with failed Democratic hopefuls.
It’s a long story, you know the drill. This is one reason why I’m not moved by name recognition-influenced polls. Among other things, Talarico is going to get the “new kid on the block” treatment, of which this article is one example. He’s also got a lot of juice, as I saw at the Harris County Democratic Party CEC meeting on Sunday, where he brought down the house in his one minute “candidates and elected officials get to say hello” speech. People may not have known much about him at the time of that poll, but they’re interested in learning more, and they will have plenty of opportunity to do so. If that includes you, here’s a fine place to begin.
One other note, I’d not heard Talarico’s case for abortion as per the Bible before. I’m not ignorant of what’s in the Bible but I’m hardly an expert; among other things, Catholic education, at least at the elementary school level and in terms of just going to church on Sunday, doesn’t focus all that much on what the Bible writ large has to say. I doubt his words here would move a true believer, but I do think they would be of interest to the many people who have mixed feelings about abortion, the ones who don’t want it banned but are often uncomfortable with the idea of it. That’s a talent I can see being quite useful.