TX-SEN: 'I Approve This Message': James Talarico Turns GOP Attack Into 1 Holy Failure

[RandySF]

Texas state Rep. James Talarico is hitting back at a Republican group’s attempt to attack him after the Democrat likened Jesus Christ to an immigrant in a resurfaced clip.

The clip, shared by the National Republican Senatorial Committee account on X, shows Talarico delivering a sermon at his home church — St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin — last year as he declares that Christ is present in the “immigrant deported without due process.

“Christ is the senior deprived of their Social Security benefits,” Talarico continued. “Christ is the protester kidnapped in an unmarked vehicle by plainclothes officers.”

Talarico had just four words for the GOP group, writing on X, “I approve this message.”




https://www.huffpost.com/entry/james-talarico-christ-immigrant-gop-republicans-attack_n_69af0edae4b0fe5c2e76478b

[leftstreet]

1. LOL

Link to tweet

?s=20

[marble falls]

2. Great advice, don't let their attacks get in front of you: you'll play catch up all news cycle ...

... get in front of the attack as soon as possible and and turn it around. Don't let it get a life of its own.

[Qutzupalotl]

3. As a seminarian, he knows the Bible backs him up on this.

“As you do unto the least of these my brethren, so you have done it unto me.” The way you treat others is the way you treat Christ. Love your neighbor. Welcome the stranger. The parable of the good Samaritan. Do Republican churchgoers not know these passages?

[misanthrope]

4. Unfortunately too many modern American Christians

seem to live by unacknowledged dictates to hoard and judge more than they appear to embody the Beatitudes.

[lastlib]

6. Aw, who ever needs that New Testament, love-thy-neighbor shit......

Sez the GOPee. Just gimme that Sodom & Gomorrah every day, twice on Sunday!

Maybe throw in a healthy dose of that prosperity gospel to keep me greedy, an' I'l be fine.

but probly close to truth for the xto-fascists.

[Torchlight]

12. Mr. Cornyn will be in a bad spot if tries to out-scripture Rep. Talarico

Getting publicly out-bibled in Texas is a serious no-no. If sex-scandal Paxton's the opponent, so much the better.

[MuirHero]

18. Republican churchgoers are woefully ignorant of the teachings of Christ.

Jesus was a radical woke leftist and any honest reading of the Gospels would clearly lead to that conclusion. Jesus was the very definition of a liberal. He challenged the religious order of his day (the Pharisees and Scribes were the RW conservatives), he challenged the social order of his day and he challenged the cultural order of his day. Jesus was a liberal through and through.

RW conservative Christians are clueless.

[MuirHero]

21. Amen

[summer_in_TX]

28. Terrific song! Thanks for sharing it

Every word, this!

[Ray Bruns]

25. "Do Republican churchgoers not know these passages?"

No.

[Deuxcents]

5. He's preaching the Beatitudes, which I suspect that GOP group knows nothing about.

[MLWR]

7. It's why they had to invent the "prosperity gospel."

To remake Jesus over in their own image.

[Ilsa]

9. They were tired of hearing verses and parables like

Matthew 19:24, "It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God."

Or Luke 12:16, a parable about a wealthy farmer rebuilding his storage barns bigger with the intention of taking it easy, and not sharing his good fortune with the less fortunate and God. The farmer dies that night, and is never able to take pleasure in his wealth.

Luke 16 and 18 tell similar parables about the difficulties in reaching a state of grace with God when you are wealthy.

[Just Jerome]

15. Indeed.

Talarico should be sued for misappropriation of their intellectual property.

[MuirHero]

19. Amen!

[aeromanKC]

8. GOP MAGA's are going to be surprised once they get to the Jesus parts of the Bible

We all knew they were slow readers, but damn!!

[Ilsa]

11. The red letters portion of the New Testament. nt

[SharonAnn]

20. I'm a "Red Letter Christian". I try to follow what Christ taught.

[Ilsa]

22. Me too. I think everyone should follow

his teachings. The world would be a happier, kinder place. Closer to paradise.

[Skittles]

10. I absolutely detest holy rolling

but one cannot help but get a certain satisfaction when Talarico showcases the chronic hypocrisy of conservative "christians"

[BurnDoubt]

13. The Golden Calf...

is the Savior in the Trump Bible.

[azureblue]

14. Here is what he is re- phrasing

The words of Jesus in Matthew 25: 41 - 46.


41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink,
43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

[Mblaze]

16. Sweet Joan

Last edited Wed Mar 11, 2026, 08:31 PM - Edit history (1)

Jesus basically said that he was all of us.

[markodochartaigh]

17. I realize that it's not in the protestant bibles, but I hope that he is familiar with the Book of Sirach,

Sirach 13:
1
Touch pitch and you blacken your hand;

associate with scoundrels and you learn their ways.

2
Do not lift a weight too heavy for you,

or associate with anyone wealthier than you.

How can the clay pot go with the metal cauldron?

When they knock together, the pot will be smashed:

3
The rich do wrong and boast of it,

while the poor are wronged and beg forgiveness.

4
As long as the rich can use you they will enslave you,

but when you are down and out they will abandon you.

5
As long as you have anything they will live with you,

but they will drain you dry without remorse.

6
When they need you they will deceive you

and smile at you and raise your hopes;

they will speak kindly to you and say, “What do you need?”

7
They will embarrass you at their dinner parties,

and finally laugh at you.

Afterwards, when they see you, they will pass you by,

and shake their heads at you.

8
Be on guard: do not act too boldly;

do not be like those who lack sense.

9
When the influential draw near, keep your distance;

then they will urge you all the more.

10
Do not draw too close, lest you be rebuffed,

but do not keep too far away lest you be regarded as an enemy.

11
Do not venture to be free with them,

do not trust their many words;

For by prolonged talk they will test you,

and though smiling they will probe you.

12
Mercilessly they will make you a laughingstock,

and will not refrain from injury or chains.

13
Be on your guard and take care

never to accompany lawless people.†

15
Every living thing loves its own kind,

and we all love someone like ourselves.

16
Every living being keeps close to its own kind;

and people associate with their own kind.

17
Is a wolf ever allied with a lamb?

So the sinner with the righteous.a

18
Can there be peace between the hyena and the dog?

Or peace between the rich and the poor?*

19
Wild donkeys of the desert are lion’s prey;

likewise the poor are feeding grounds for the rich.

20
Humility is an abomination to the proud;

and the poor are an abomination to the rich.

21
When the rich stumble they are supported by friends;

when the poor trip they are pushed down by friends.

22
When the rich speak they have many supporters;

though what they say is repugnant, it wins approval.

When the poor speak people say, “Come, come, speak up!”

though they are talking sense, they get no hearing.

23
When the rich speak all are silent,

their wisdom people extol to the clouds.

When the poor speak people say: “Who is that?”

If they stumble, people knock them down

[summer_in_TX]

23. As a Protestant, I never had seen that. Wow!

Sirach 13: 1-23 shows many similarities between then and now. Human nature remains. The majority of the wealthy seem to become more similar to what those verses describe rather than a Mackenzie Scott or Melinda Gates.

[markodochartaigh]

24. It's true, human nature has not changed

enough considering the technology, weapons, etc. that we have today.

[evolves]

29. Ecclesiastes 1:9-

9 What has been will be again,
what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

[Lovie777]

26. I know an older RW evangelist Christian couple.....

who believes gawd sent shithole to save us.

Every Democrat is a “demon”, no matter what.

At this point in time there is no way to sway them.

[efhmc]

27. I once heard Fugelsang quote a pastor friend who was asked by a parishioner why he was preaching "woke" when he

was preaching on the Beatitudes.