Staff Reports
New reporting from the Washington Examiner has pulled up posts on an X account that James Talarico has publicly said belongs to his adoptive father, Mark Talarico. The posts mock Christianity and trash Republican women. The kicker: James Talarico has followed and even replied to that same account in the past. For a man running as a religious Democrat in a tight Texas Senate race, that is not a small detail.
What the resurfaced X posts show
The Examiner reproduced several replies from the account that are hard to miss. One mocked the crucifixion by joking it would “definitely make for some interesting James Avery jewelry.” Another reportedly replied to an Ash Wednesday image with a crude clip of a man with a vulgar word on his forehead. There’s also a line that said, “Real shame your god could not have prevented that family trauma in the first place,” and a swipe at Republican women calling a group “like the afternoon shift at a strip club.” Reporters note James Talarico responded to the account in 2020 with “You taught me well, Pops!” and in 2022 called the man behind the profile the “greatest man I’ve ever known.” The Examiner says it reached out for comment; the Talarico campaign did not provide a response to that outlet.
Why this is a problem for a candidate selling faith
James Talarico has leaned into faith as part of his campaign pitch. He’s portrayed himself as a man shaped by service and “real greatness,” not trolling. So voters get a split-screen: the candidate who says he wants to be a preacher and the family-linked account that ridicules Christian observance. That contrast reads as either poor judgment or convenient selective outrage. Either way, it’s a credibility problem. If your campaign sells religious sincerity, the people close to you need to pass the smell test — online jokes about sacred things don’t help.
Political fallout in the Texas Senate race
This is happening in a hotly contested Senate race where faith and family stories are politically useful. Republicans will use these resurfaced X posts to say Talarico’s religious claims are hollow or performative. Voters deserve answers: Does Mark Talarico control the account? Does he stand by these posts? Why did James publicly praise and interact with the account if those were the views being expressed? The campaign owes Texas voters a clear explanation, not radio silence. And reporters should archive the posts now, before anything vanishes.
Bottom line: plain talk for Texas voters
Faith is a real issue for millions of Texans. Mocking religion and smearing public women on social media is not some small family quirk when it connects to a candidate’s image. James Talarico can either clarify, repudiate, and explain — or continue to let silent family tweets speak for him. Texans will judge which matters more: slogans about service and faith, or the company a candidate keeps online. That’s the political math he needs to answer before voters write him a final grade.
