James Talarico Gets Owned on Abortion by Catholic Voter at CNN Town Hall

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico made an appearance at a town hall hosted by CNN in collaboration with Jubilee on Wednesday evening.

The format CNN used was reminiscent of Jubilee’s “Surrounded” series, where one individual must face a barrage from naysayers who disagree with their views.

For Talarico, opposition came from a Roman Catholic woman who made it known she was a single-issue voter, with everything coming down to abortion.

After expressing her hesitance to vote Democrat because of the party’s poor track record on the issue, Talarico tried to respond as a moderate, attempting to find common ground with someone he considered a fellow Christian.

“Some of my spiritual heroes like Pope Francis and Pope Leo are pro-life, and they are consistently pro-life,” he told her. “I can respect anyone like you who is consistently pro-life,” Talarico said, hoping to find “common ground.”

The Senate hopeful then tried claiming “the Bible is silent on the issue of abortion.”

He tried desperately to distance himself from the line from the Democrats’ long-held stance on murdering children, telling the woman, “You and I actually have the same goal. We may have different moral conclusions when it comes to this particular ethical question, but we actually have the same public policy goal.”

Talarico proved unpersuasive to a Catholic theological professor on abortion. https://t.co/AI0AmOYX2a

— Jorge Bonilla (@BonillaJL) October 15, 2026

Although he kept rambling, this voter would not let his comment on Scripture go unaddressed.

“I just want to add that the Bible is not silent on abortion. There is the 10 Commandments: thou shalt not kill.”

Talarico simply told her, “It’s okay that you and I come to different conclusions about that.”

No, it definitely is not okay.

How can voters who oppose the slaughter and dismemberment of children find any common ground with Talarico or his party?

For all of the mental gymnastics he tries here, the issue is black and white.

Either you support the murder of children in the womb, or you do not.

Talarico’s understanding of Scripture is strange, but more accurately abhorrent. That tracks well with leadership at his church claiming Jesus did not die for our sins and that we cannot know if He even existed.

The town hall gave audiences more moments like this as he tried to inch away from the radicalism Democrats have spent years endorsing.

Deviating from the “Abolish ICE” narrative the left uses with Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Talarico said, “We need Immigration and Customs Enforcement in this country, but that’s not what we’re seeing,” commenting, “What we’ve seen over the last year is a secret police force, and that’s what we don’t want in this country.”

Sure, calling ICE the “secret police” is not moderate, but it’s a step back from the lunacy of the left by at least understanding the agency is needed.

Talarico maintains a slim lead over his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, as the New York Post, citing RealClearPolling, puts him ahead by 2.6 percentage points.

He’s trying to tread lightly until November, but abortion is not a middle ground issue with room for nuance. We are talking about the murder of innocent children.

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