Democrat rising star called out for ‘creepy’ comment about transgender children

One of the Democratic Party’s newest rising stars, James Talarico, is being mocked for a "creepy" comment he made about children who identify as transgender in an unearthed podcast episode.

Talarico, a Texas state representative, is the Democratic Party’s nominee for the U.S. Senate. Since beating Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, for the nomination, Talarico has been in the spotlight for his track record of highly progressive comments and stances.

The latest is from a 2023 episode of the Superbloom Podcast in which host Candice King asks Talarico, "What is something that you love, other than family and friends?"

Talarico responds, "I love, I’m just saying this because it's on my mind, the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity." He added that "they shouldn’t have to, but it was an inspiration to watch."

Congressman Brandon Gill, R-Texas, responded to the video on X, writing, "Something that you love that's not family or friends?" TALARICO: "Trans children." Now that's just creepy."

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Sen. Tim Sheehy, R-Mont., piled on as well, calling Talarico a "creepy goofball."

Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., called Talarico’s remark "Incredible," saying that "Talarico really does make Kamala Harris look like a social conservative."

In the same vein, conservative commentator Paul Szypula reacted, "And we all thought Crockett was woke."

The National Republican Senatorial Committee wrote, "Your Democrat nominee in Texas, folks."

Women’s sports activist Riley Gaines wrote, "James Talarico loves 'trans kids' so much that he advocates for them to cut off healthy, functioning body parts. Quite the display of love."

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, even joined in, writing that "James Talarico needs to learn the definition of 'humanity.'"

"It is the opposite of humane to advocate for the gender-mutilation of children," wrote Abbott, adding, "Texas rejects this radical ideology & will again in November."

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Democrats are hoping that Talarico will be able to pull off a victory in November to become the first Democratic senator from Texas in decades. He will face either long-time incumbent Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, or state Attorney General Ken Paxton, who are currently locked in a bitter primary runoff.

In response to his comment going viral, JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico's campaign, dismissed the criticisms as "stale attacks" from Republicans and billionaires. 

Ennis told Fox News Digital that "John Cornyn, Ken Paxton, Greg Abbott, and the billionaires who prop them up are scared of James and are lobbing stale attacks for good reason: Our campaign is building a movement poised to change the politics of this state and unite the people of Texas to win in November."

Talarico, who is a Presbyterian seminarian, has made transgender advocacy a staple of his political career. He has often couched his advocacy in Christian and biblical terms.

In 2021, while opposing a Texas bill to keep men out of women’s sports, Talarico said on the state House floor that "trans children are God’s children, made in God’s own image. There’s nothing wrong with them. Nothing at all. They are perfect. They are beautiful and they are sacred."

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In the same speech, Talarico also said that "God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary."

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At the end of his speech, Talarico shared a message to children directly, saying, "To the trans kids watching at home, I just want to say, I love you and so do a lot of people in this room, and so do a lot of people around this big state. I know it may not seem like it tonight, but you are loved beyond measure."