{"id":2577911,"date":"2026-03-09T18:38:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/and-so-it-begins-conservative-nevertrumper-praises-radical-talarico-as-christian-x-ray\/"},"modified":"2026-03-09T18:42:30","modified_gmt":"2026-03-09T22:42:30","slug":"and-so-it-begins-conservative-nevertrumper-praises-radical-talarico-as-christian-x-ray","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/and-so-it-begins-conservative-nevertrumper-praises-radical-talarico-as-christian-x-ray\/","title":{"rendered":"And So It Begins: &#8216;Conservative&#8217; NeverTrumper Praises Radical Talarico As &#8216;Christian X-Ray&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fand-so-it-begins-conservative-nevertrumper-praises-radical-talarico-as-christian-x-ray%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2577911&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Western Journal analyzes Texas Senate candidate James talarico and how his Christian faith is <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-reportedly-issuing-demands-to-cnn-nyt-fox-ramp-up-scrutiny-of-gop-to-combat-impeachment\/\" title=\"White House demands CNN, NYT, Fox to intensify GOP scrutiny against impeachment.\">shaping media coverage<\/a> and political perception, framing him as a controversial, heterodox Christian figure in a race against Ken Paxton.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Talarico, a Texas state representative, is the Democratic nominee for the Texas Senate and is portrayed as a national figure in part because of favorable media interviews. The piece likens him to a Beto O\u2019Rourke-inspired profile, but with a distinctive, debated Christian background.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; He is described as a Presbyterian seminarian with a \u201cpassive-aggressive political Christianity\u201d that allegedly downplays biblical prohibitions on issues like abortion, sexuality, and gender, arguing for broader social action in line with his faith.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The political context centers on a potential Paxton race, with Paxton facing incumbent John Cornyn in a runoff; the article notes this dynamic while focusing on Talarico\u2019s image and appeal to religious voters.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece contrasts this portrayal with The New York Times\u2019 David French, who writes a sympathetic profile calling Talarico a \u201cChristian X-ray.\u201d The Western Journal contends French\u2019s piece is an overly flattering treatment that downplays tensions between faith and policy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article cites Ezra Klein\u2019s interview with Talarico to illustrate tensions around prioritizing social issues (abortion and homosexuality) versus broader charitable deeds (caring for the poor, healing the sick), implying a debate about how faith should <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/gov-elect-youngkin-announces-dr-marty-makary-as-member-of-medical-advisory-team\/\" title=\"Gov....Elect Youngkin Announces Dr. Marty Makary As Member Of Medical Advisory Team\">inform public policy<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; It critiques French\u2019s stance as potentially too forgiving of Talarico\u2019s views, arguing that the candidate\u2019s Christian vision may be selectively expansive and carried by many skeptical or partisan voices rather than reflecting a global Christian ethic.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >piece highlights sensational social-media excerpts<\/a> and criticisms (e.g.,claims that Talarico has said \u201cGod is nonbinary,\u201d or that abortion can be justified by Biblical narratives) to illustrate the heated and sometimes misleading discourse surrounding his faith.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; the article characterizes the coverage of Talarico as part of a broader, often theatrical debate among NeverTrump conservatives and liberal-media circles, suggesting that his faith is being deployed as a political symbol rather than a straightforward theological position.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The tone remains skeptical of the more reverent portrayals while acknowledging that Talarico\u2019s religious rhetoric and positions are likely to remain central themes as the race progresses toward November.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<section> \t\t\t\t<script>console.log(\"ad slot (AC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC1)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC2)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC3)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (IC4)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_0)\")<\/script><script>console.log(\"ad slot (REP_1)\")<\/script><\/p>\n<p>And out come the NeverTrumpers to support their new favorite person, who apparently disagrees with everything they&rsquo;ve professed to believe in: Texas state Rep. James Talarico.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico is the Democratic nominee for Senate in the Lone Star State. He&rsquo;s built a bit of a reputation as a national figure of late by getting favorable play in the kind of softball interviews Democrats of his ilk usually get. Think of him as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/beto-orourke-invites-supporters-morning-run-along-water-people-instantly-notice-problem\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Beto O&rsquo;Rourke<\/a> 2.0. The big upgrade, this time, is his dubious but much-flogged Christian background.<\/p>\n<p>Talarico, as you may have heard, is a &ldquo;Presbyterian seminarian,&rdquo; a phrase that gets as much play in profiles of the candidate as &ldquo;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/devout-catholic-biden-butchers-bible-verse-reading-makes-sunday-school-style-mistake\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">devout Catholic<\/a>&rdquo; used to get in Joe Biden&rsquo;s.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s enough to make one ask what&rsquo;s being taught in Presbyterian seminary these days, but one digresses; suffice it to say, he is prepossessed of a certain kind of passive-aggressive political Christianity which ignores all of the obvious biblical prohibitions against social issues like abortion, homosexuality, and gender issues, brushing those off with reflexive, unthoughtful &ldquo;ackshully, Jesus came for the poor &hellip;&rdquo;-style rhetoric.<\/p>\n<p>One also understands why Talarico&rsquo;s performative faith might be a plus this time around: There&rsquo;s still a decent chance that he&rsquo;s running against Attorney General Ken Paxton, who &mdash; while he may be more than amenable to conservative Christian priorities legislatively &mdash; has a reputation (deserved or undeserved) as a man who plays a little too loose with his public and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/ken-paxtons-senator-wife-files-divorce-biblical-grounds-shakes-primary\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">private morals<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p> <script type=\"text\/javascript\"> \t\t\tif ( getCookie( \"ff_subbed\" ) ) { \t\t\t\tdocument.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\").remove() \t\t\t} else { \t\t\t\tdocument.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\", function() { \t\t\t\t\tfunction loadAnyclip() { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst container=document.getElementById(\"anyclipvideo\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!container) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst script=document.createElement(\"script\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.src=\"https:\/\/player.anyclip.com\/anyclip-widget\/lre-widget\/prod\/v1\/src\/lre.js\"; \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"pubname\", \"westernjournalcom\"); \t\t\t\t\t\tscript.setAttribute(\"widgetname\", \"001w000001jULVcAAO_M12924\");  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ append inside the container so player shows in correct spot \t\t\t\t\t\tcontainer.appendChild(script); \t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\tfunction findPreviousParagraph(selector, x) { \t\t\t\t\t\tconst targetElement=document.querySelector(selector); \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!targetElement) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Target element not found.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Get all <\/p>\n<p> elements in order as they appear in the document \t\t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphs=Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(\"p\"));  \t\t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the index of the last <\/p>\n<p> before the target element \t\t\t\t\t\tlet targetIndex=paragraphs.findIndex(p=> p.compareDocumentPosition(targetElement) & Node.DOCUMENT_POSITION_PRECEDING);  \t\t\t\t\t\tif (targetIndex===-1 || targetIndex <x) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.warn(\"Not enough paragraphs before the target element.\"); \t\t\t\t\t\t\treturn null; \t\t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\treturn paragraphs[targetIndex - x]; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Set up IntersectionObserver \t\t\t\t\tfunction observeElement(element) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif (!element) return;  \t\t\t\t\t\tconst observer=new IntersectionObserver( \t\t\t\t\t\t\t(entries)=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tentries.forEach(entry=> { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tif (entry.isIntersecting) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log(\"Paragraph is now visible:\", entry.target.textContent.trim()); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tloadAnyclip(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.disconnect(); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t\t\t\t}, \t\t\t\t\t\t\t{ threshold: 0.5 } \/\/ Adjust threshold as needed \t\t\t\t\t\t);  \t\t\t\t\t\tobserver.observe(element); \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\t\/\/ Find the 1st paragraph before #anyclipvideo and observe it \t\t\t\t\tlet paragraphToObserve=findPreviousParagraph(\"#anyclipvideo\", 2); \t\t\t\t\tobserveElement(paragraphToObserve); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> <\/p>\n<p>The GOP race, since no candidate reached 50 percent in this month&rsquo;s primary, will go to a runoff on May 26. Paxton is up <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/cornyn-forced-runoff-ken-paxton-outspending-texas-ag-33-1\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">against incumbent Sen. John Cornyn<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>At a retail politics level, one can at least appreciate Talarico&rsquo;s dim Christianity, while not cosigning any of his prattling as a serious version of faith in action. But leave it to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/normally-reserved-brit-hume-curses-david-french-uncalled-attack-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">David French<\/a> over at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/03\/08\/opinion\/james-talarico-christian-democrat-texas-primary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The New York Times<\/a> to write a po-faced paean to Mr. Talarico, published Sunday, titled &ldquo;James Talarico Is a Christian X-Ray.&rdquo; I&rsquo;ll allow you a second to stop laughing.<\/p>\n<p>There is, I suspect, a lot of knowing ignorance in the attempt to make James &ldquo;God is Nonbinary&rdquo; Talarico an appealing option to voters of faith, but some of it does seem like genuine affinity from one of the Times&rsquo; token quasi-conservative Christians.<\/p>\n<p>In particular, far from being disqualifying in French&rsquo;s eyes, Talarico&rsquo;s dubious heterodox passive-aggressive progressive faith is actually a bonus, even if he claims not to necessarily agree with him:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><em>For example, in an interview with my colleague Ezra Klein, Talarico criticized the evangelical focus on abortion and homosexuality in politics. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s remarkable to me,&rdquo; Talarico said, &ldquo;that you have an entire political movement using Christianity to prioritize two issues that Jesus never talked about.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>&ldquo;And so,&rdquo; he continued, &ldquo;I&rsquo;m not saying they&rsquo;re not important &mdash; I actually think both of those issues are very important. But to focus on those two things instead of feeding the hungry and healing the sick and welcoming the stranger &mdash; three things we&rsquo;re told to do ad nauseam in Scripture &mdash; to me, is just mind-blowing.&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>When I hear Talarico speak about faith, I alternate between agreement and disagreement. He&rsquo;s spot on about the dangers of Christian nationalism, and yet I can&rsquo;t help but respond to his arguments about the relative priority of abortion by asking: &ldquo;Why can&rsquo;t we do it all? Provide high-quality health care, welcome immigrants and protect the unborn?&rdquo;<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>To a certain extent, it&rsquo;s not surprising to hear French &mdash; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/david-french-nervous-revival-america\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">seemingly a believer<\/a> that there&rsquo;s no such thing as what Gad Saad termed &ldquo;suicidal empathy&rdquo; &mdash; wonder aloud why we can&rsquo;t indeed give every illegal immigrant a free car and get all the little children in the world to clap their hands in unison, too.<\/p>\n<p>However, he seems to be quite a bit too ingenuous when he wonders aloud why Talarico&rsquo;s Christian vision isn&rsquo;t expansive enough, as if perhaps he hasn&rsquo;t thought about saving the unborn <em>and<\/em> keeping the borders as open as a matador waving bulls through. This isn&rsquo;t a matter of being insufficiently imaginative on the candidate&rsquo;s part, but about being deliberately narrow regarding <em>who<\/em> his presuppositions benefit: namely, air-headed progressives.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s not as if he didn&rsquo;t spell it out for us, however:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Texas senate hopeful James Talarico uses the gnostic &lsquo;Gospel of Thomas&rsquo; to prove that Jesus was a feminist, offering that men must not be male, but must be female, and vice versa. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/QjGOMPympG\">pic.twitter.com\/QjGOMPympG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Protestia (@Protestia) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Protestia\/status\/2029269294362628217?\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">&#128680; The Democrat nominee for Senate in Texas says that the story of Mary&rsquo;s Annunciation justifies abortion:<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Angel comes down and asks Mary if this is something she wants to do&hellip; To me that is an affirmation that creation has to be done with consent.&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/D0ZOr1RBhi\">pic.twitter.com\/D0ZOr1RBhi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Greg Price (@greg_price11) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/greg_price11\/status\/2029041511644450838?\">March 4, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Democrat Nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas James Talarico: &ldquo;God is nonbinary&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/NkWDJzsXY6\">pic.twitter.com\/NkWDJzsXY6<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bennyjohnson\/status\/2029355420083540457?\">March 5, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In this way, I suppose Talarico is indeed a &ldquo;Christian X-ray&rdquo; &mdash; and French is a delusional patient who refuses to believe the diagnosis he&rsquo;s been given.<\/p>\n<p>Most of these bits of radical heterodoxy &mdash; heresy, even &mdash; don&rsquo;t get quoted by French. The longest Talarico quote is this one, which French nods along approvingly with: &ldquo;I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I&rsquo;m tired of being told to hate my neighbor. It&rsquo;s been more than 10 years of this kind of politics. Politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning, politics as total war. It tears families apart. It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible all the time.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I know there are people who register those words deeply. They&rsquo;ve endured the fractured friendships. They&rsquo;ve seen their own families fall to pieces. And the idea that a politician might actually run a race without rancor and hatred, can feel intoxicating &mdash; even if you have theological or ideological disagreements with him,&rdquo; French responds.<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s worth mentioning that most of this fracture is in response to NeverTrumpers like French who have spent over a decade whinging about the perfidies of The Donald in the most rebarbative terms, then they wonder why their friends, neighbors, and relatives won&rsquo;t listen to their lectures about how evil they are. <em>The cheek of these people<\/em>, the David Frenches of the world say, then wonder aloud again why all those relationships ended up &ldquo;fractured.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Later on, French laments that &ldquo;if Paxton wins, MAGA evangelicals will no doubt claim that he is the only viable candidate for Christians to support.&rdquo; He then references the worst possible candidate to win conservatives of faith who aren&rsquo;t &ldquo;MAGA evangelicals&rdquo; over to Talarico&rsquo;s side.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;What if we&rsquo;re seeing a 21st-century version of the American public&rsquo;s movement away from the cruelty and corruption of Richard Nixon toward the ethics and integrity of Jimmy Carter &mdash; a man who won for all the right reasons in 1976, even if his presidency didn&rsquo;t live up to his promise?&rdquo; French writes. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s too soon to be that optimistic, but that&rsquo;s what I see in people&rsquo;s attitudes toward Talarico.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Look, I&rsquo;m not old enough to have lived <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/fact-check-michelle-obama-skip-jimmy-carters-funeral-avoid-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">through the Carter years<\/a>, but I&rsquo;ve learned about them through these things called books. David French has not only read some books, but <em>written<\/em> some, as well. If the better angels of nature couldn&rsquo;t comprehend just how wrong things had gone when the words &ldquo;&hellip; toward the ethics and integrity of Jimmy Carter&rdquo; escaped from his MacBook keyboard, it&rsquo;s time to give it up.<\/p>\n<p>Suffice it to say, there&rsquo;s a lot more piffle in this &ldquo;Christian X-ray&rdquo; nonsense piece, but this is basically what we should expect between now and November: the repetitive canonization of St. James of Austin, the patron of &ldquo;Coexist&rdquo; bumper stickers on Subarus, by leftists and NeverTrump pseudo-conservatives alike. This won&rsquo;t be the dumbest hagiography that gets written, but it&rsquo;s certainly the David Frenchiest.<\/p>\n<div style=\"position: relative;\">\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-submit-correction inner-content\">\n<div class=\"correction-form\">\n<form style=\"display: none;\">\n<div class=\"sc-name-field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* Name<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"name\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"sc--field\"> \t\t\t\t\t\t<label>* <\/label> \t\t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" name=\"\" required> \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<label>* Message<\/label> \t\t\t\t\t<br \/> \t\t\t\t\t<textarea name=\"message\" required><\/textarea> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"required-message\" style=\"display: none; padding-bottom: 15px;\">* All fields are required.<\/div>\n<p> \t\t\t\t\t<input type=\"submit\" value=\"Submit\" onclick=\"event.preventDefault(); firefly_sc();\"> \t\t\t\t\t \t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"firefly-sc-confirm\" style=\"display: none;\">Success!<\/div>\n<\/p><\/form>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \t\t<script> \t\t\tfunction firefly_sc() { \t\t\t\tif( typeof window.captchaPublicKey==typeof undefined ){ \t\t\t\t\tconsole.error('window.captchaPublicKey is not defined'); \t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\tgrecaptcha.execute( window.captchaPublicKey, { action: 'submit_correction' } ).then( function( token ) { \t\t\t\t\tvar opts={ \t\t\t\t\t\taction:    'firefly_sc_submit', \t\t\t\t\t\tname:      document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"name\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\t:     document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tmessage:   document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"message\"]' ).value, \t\t\t\t\t\tpost_id:   firefly_post_id, \t\t\t\t\t\tcap_token: token \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tvar inputs=[ 'name', '', 'message' ];  \t\t\t\t\tfor( var i=0; i <inputs.length; i++ ) if( ! ( opts[inputs[i]]=document.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction [name=\"' + inputs[i] + '\"]' ).value ) ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .required-message' ).style.display='block'; \t\t\t\t\t\treturn; \t\t\t\t\t}  \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction input[type=\"submit\"]' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).src=firefly_loading_gif_url; \t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='inline-block';  \t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( 'ma subbing' );  \t\t\t\t\tif( firefly_post_id ) opts['post_id']=firefly_post_id;  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Send the data using post with element id name and name2*\/ \t\t\t\t\tvar posting=jQuery.post( firefly_ajax_url, opts );  \t\t\t\t\t\/* Alerts the results *\/ \t\t\t\t\tposting.done( function( response ) { \t\t\t\t\t\tif( response.success ) { \t\t\t\t\t\t\tconsole.log( response.data ); \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-submitting-img' ).style.display='none'; \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdocument.querySelector( '.entry-submit-correction .firefly-sc-confirm' ).style.display='block';  \t\t\t\t\t\t\tdataLayer.push( { 'event': 'submit-correction' } ); \t\t\t\t\t\t} \t\t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t\t}); \t\t\t} \t\t<\/script> \t     \t\t\t\t\t\t     \t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p style=\"border: 1px solid #f5f5f5; padding: 16px;\">Advertise with The Western Journal and reach millions of highly engaged readers, while supporting our work. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/advertise-us\/?wj_source=article\">Advertise Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><script>console.log(\"ad slot (BA1)\")<\/script> \t\t<\/p>\n<div class=\"ff-fancy-header-container\"> \t\t\t \t<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here\u2019s a concise paraphrase of the main points and tone from the passage:<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The piece critiques NeverTrumpers for rallying behind Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who is portrayed as appealing to voters partly because of his \u201cChristian\u201d credentials. It notes his background as a Presbyterian seminarian and suggests his form of faith is a passive-aggressive, socially progressive Christianity that downplays biblical prohibitions on abortion, LGBT issues, and gender topics.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; It argues that Talarico\u2019s religious presentation may be advantageous in a race against Attorney General Ken Paxton, who has a reputation for questionable personal morals despite being aligned with conservative Christian priorities.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The author highlights a New York Times piece by David French that treats Talarico as a kind of \u201cChristian X-ray,\u201d which the piece mocks as over-the-top reverence. The author claims French\u2019s praise reflects a sympathetic, quasi-conservative Christian stance toward Talarico.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The article cites French\u2019s portrayal of Talarico\u2019s critique of evangelical focus on abortion and homosexuality, noting Talarico says those issues are important but should not overshadow duties like feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and welcoming strangers. The author alternates between agreement and disagreement with Talarico\u2019s views, but suggests French treats his broader Christian vision as a hopeful, expansive project.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; It accuses French (and similar NeverTrump voices) of being selectively sympathetic and of presenting a favorable, almost hagiographic narrative of Talarico. The piece points to sensational social-media quotes-often attributed to critics like Protestia or Greg Price-that portray Talarico as arguing controversial positions (e.g., \u201cGod is nonbinary\u201d) to illustrate alleged radical heterodoxy.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; The author contends that French\u2019s piece implies voters might be moving toward a Carter-era ethics of integrity, contrasting with Nixon-era criticisms, and suggests this is an impractical, overly optimistic take on what faith and politics can achieve. It argues that much of this coverage amounts to a modern-day \u201cChristian X-ray\u201d portrayal that elevates Talarico without solid grounding.<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; In short, the passage views the current coverage as a sustained, favorable treatment of Talarico by NeverTrumpers and sympathetic Christian commentators, framing it as a campaign of laudatory, even sensational, profiling rather than a balanced assessment<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2577912,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NeverTrumper-praises-James-Talarico.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[75440,21130,75439,5894,48624],"class_list":["post-2577911","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-christian-xray","tag-conservatism","tag-nevertrumper","tag-politics","tag-punditry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.westernjournal.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/NeverTrumper-praises-James-Talarico.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577911","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2577911"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577911\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2577915,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2577911\/revisions\/2577915"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2577912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2577911"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2577911"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2577911"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}