Texas Senate Candidate Faces Criticism Over Past Sermon Remarks on Jesus

Texas Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico is facing scrutiny following the circulation of a 2019 sermon clip in which he discussed the nature of prophetic voices. In the video, recorded at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Talarico listed Jesus alongside figures such as Buddha, Muhammad, Mahatma Gandhi, and Fred Rogers, describing them all as prophetic voices. He further suggested that individuals like parents, teachers, and student activists could also be considered prophetic.

The footage was released by the Lone Star Liberty PAC, an organization supporting Talarico’s Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, ahead of the November 3 general election. Critics have accused Talarico of trivializing the deity of Jesus Christ by placing him on equal footing with other religious and secular figures. In response to the video, some social media users shared biblical passages to express their disagreement with his theological framing. Talarico, who prefaced his 2019 remarks by stating that Christianity is the tradition in which he was raised, has not issued a public statement regarding the renewed attention to his past sermon.