Paxton won’t say whether James Talarico is going to hell
Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate candidate Ken Paxton declined to comment directly on his opponent James Talarico’s recent remarks suggesting Talarico is destined for eternal damnation, stating that what happens to Talarico is “up to God.” Simultaneously occurring,Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick criticized Talarico,a Democratic state representative and seminarian,condemning his comments as blasphemous and asserting he is “going to hell.” Patrick reiterated these statements during a podcast appearance, while Paxton avoided directly endorsing the claim. Both officials argue that talarico has brought religion into the political race, citing his campaign slogan referencing Jesus’s act of overturning the tables of moneychangers. Talarico has previously made controversial religious statements, including that “God is nonbinary” and that he is “a Christian who hates Christianity,” remarks he has since attempted to clarify amid attacks. Paxton expressed concern that Talarico’s theological views misrepresent true Christianity and are harmful, but declined to state whether he agreed with Patrick’s hell pronouncement, deferring the judgment to God. The article notes that Talarico’s campaign has responded by criticizing Paxton for using his past comments to distract from alleged corruption.
EXCLUSIVE — Texas Attorney General and Republican Senate nominee Ken Paxton declined to take a position on recent comments that his opponent James Talarico is destined for eternal damnation, insisting instead that what happens to Talarico is “up to God.”
Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick said he has “never seen so much blasphemy from anyone running for office” in a speech earlier this month at the state’s GOP convention. Patrick added that Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian and Democratic state representative, is “going to Hell, for sure.” Patrick repeated those comments when Paxton appeared on his podcast this week, though the attorney general did not respond directly to them.
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“I agree that his views do not fit historical Christianity, that they do not match up with Christianity,” Paxton said in a Saturday interview at the Road to Majority Conference in Washington, D.C. “I’ll let God judge what’s happening to James Talarico, but the things that he’s saying are harmful.”
Paxton and Patrick both insist that it is Talarico who has brought religion into the race. Talarico’s campaign slogan, “It’s Time to Start Flipping Tables,” alludes to Jesus’s overturning of the tables of the moneychangers in the temple in Jerusalem. Talarico uses that episode as a metaphor for “standing up to bullies, but not becoming a bully yourself.”
Talarico’s past religious comments have become an attack vector for Republicans. Before launching his senate campaign, Talarico claimed that “God is nonbinary.” Talarico also quipped that he is a “Christian who hates Christianity” during a 2021 interview that resurfaced this week.
Talarico has attempted to walk back some of his past comments while campaigning across the Bible Belt state. “Ken Paxton is clipping my past cringey comments to distract from his career of corruption,” Talarico said in a May interview with ABC News.
Talarico’s beliefs “do not help people understand faith,” Paxton told the Washington Examiner. “They actually guide them away from true Christianity, and I think that’s a problem. And you know, I wish he would stop doing that, because it’s harmful.”
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Paxton declined to say whether he agreed with Patrick’s assessment that Talarico is destined for hell when pressed on the matter. “I don’t make those decisions,” he said. “That’s up to God as to what happens to James Talarico.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to Talarico’s campaign for comment.
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