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Texas Senate nominee James Talarico once proclaimed the Bible gives him a moral reason to fight for his progressive policies, but one expert is now accusing Talarico of spreading a “perverted version” of Christianity to justify his agenda.
Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, set off a wave of criticism this week after saying his support for universal healthcare and rejection of “this corrupt system” are rooted in “biblical grounds.” He pointed to the actions of Jesus and the Hebrew prophets as the rationale.
“When Jesus healed the sick, he didn’t ask for a deductible. So when I fight for universal healthcare, I’m doing it on biblical grounds,” he wrote in an X post viewed over 2 million times. “When he fed the hungry, he didn’t price gouge for a profit. When the Hebrew prophets saw corruption, they spoke truth to power. When I take on this corrupt system, I’m doing it on biblical grounds.”
Just Facts president and co-founder Jim Agresti told Fox News Digital Talarico publicly opposes Christian nationalism while “imposing his own version, a perverted version, of Christian morals on the public.”
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“Talarico bills himself as a Christian. He talks about how he’s a seminarian,” Just Facts President and co-founder Agresti told Fox News Digital. “He frequently quotes the words or misquotes the words of Jesus. And he tries to also, at the same time, say, ‘I hate Christian nationalism,’ while he’s imposing his own version, a perverted version, of Christian morals on the public.”
Agresti, who also preaches monthly at his church in Texas and wrote a book about the veracity of the Bible, said the first time he heard Talarico’s comments, he immediately believed Talarico was not only “butchering the Bible” but also misrepresenting the Constitution.
“He’s perverting the words of Jesus, and he’s also flouting the U.S. Constitution,” he said.
Agresti said he found more than 50 Bible passages about giving to people in need, none of which described government handouts.
“In every single instance, it’s about self-sacrificing generosity,” he said.
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He said Talarico’s interpretation conflicts with the parable of the Good Samaritan, a story that teaches individuals to voluntarily help those in need.
“It was about an individual who saw someone in desperate need and sacrificed their own time and their own money to help that person,” he said. “There was no role for government.”
For that reason, Agresti said Talarico’s public support for taxpayer-funded universal health care is fundamentally at odds with the Bible.
“He’s not even offering to give away his own money,” he said. “He’s offering to take money from others and then give it to other people.”
But Agresti said his concerns go beyond the Bible. He argued both the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence are rooted in biblical principles, with the Declaration saying government exists to secure God-given rights and the Constitution limiting the government’s role.
“These are not things that the Democrats are typically pushing,” he said, adding that government welfare programs have contributed to a large national debt, leaving less money for other priorities.
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Agresti highlighted how both Talarico and the left overlook the government’s biblical responsibility to “stop crime, stop murder, stop theft.”
“These are the things that people on the left are often very soft about,” he said.
Agresti argued history offers a similar example, comparing Talarico to Founding Father Alexander Hamilton. Agresti said Hamilton similarly “misled the public” by pushing for a larger role for the government after the Constitution was ratified.
“He was clear upon that, but then flipped after the Constitution was enacted,” he said. “In other words, he misled the public about what his true agenda was.”
But this is not the first time Talarico has faced controversy over his religious remarks. Talarico previously said “God is non-binary” on the Texas House floor in 2021 while objecting to a bill that would ban transgender athletes from women’s sports, called Jesus was a “radical feminist,” and described the overturning of Roe v. Wade in 2022 was “unchristian.”
With the pivotal general election approaching, Talarico is set to face Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a high-stakes Senate race in November.
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Agresti cited Jesus’ warning about “false prophets” when speaking about Talarico, saying “they’re dressed like sheep, but inwardly they’re ferocious wolves.”
“I don’t know what’s in his heart,” he said. “He might be deluded. I just don’t know. That’s for God to determine.”
In a statement to Fox News Digital, Talarico campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said, “James is a Christian seminarian who’s dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus Christ — fighting corruption when he sees it because there’s nothing Christ-like about powerful people using scripture to justify hate and greed and score political points. While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton attack James for his faith — he will continue encouraging Texans to come together by loving their neighbors as themselves.”