David French Thinks It Is Uncivil to Think that James Talarico Is an Awful Christian

James Talarico is a creep.

I don’t say that merely because I think he is wrong on just about everything. I say that because he is, objectively, really really creepy. 

As in “check his hard drive,” creepy. 

This guy is like made in a lab by RNC oppo researchers https://t.co/Upo5BGHY8C

— Jon Levine (@LevineJonathan) March 9, 2026

David French, though, finds Talarico utterly delightful and a model for how a Christian should be. And he is deeply disturbed that evangelicals aren’t flocking to this creep and embracing him as the most Christian guy on earth. 

There are a lot of evangelicals on this website who seem to strongly believe that no person can disagree with them on cultural issues and also be a decent person. This is the mirror image of the hyper-woke left, which also rejects the idea that decent people can disagree. 1/3

— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 10, 2026

In fact, the results of the TX primary — where the more civil candidate won a plurality on the GOP side and a majority on the Democratic side — are perhaps a sign of things to come. People are getting tired of intolerance and cruelty. /end

— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 10, 2026

You will recall that French insisted he was voting for Kamala Harris because of his own pro-life convictions, which he has paraded for decades. He is also a convert on trans issues, and after decades of opposing gay marriage, has discovered that it is all part of God’s plan or something. 

He quite literally just did the same. https://t.co/f5VWY6Bowv pic.twitter.com/UaTUAEXeIr

— Legal Phil (@Legal_Fil) March 10, 2026

It’s almost like David French has no principles, but that couldn’t be right, because he is a columnist at the New York Times, which is the paper of record.

SUPERCUT: Some of Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico’s most radical views:

“You can’t call yourself a Christian and destroy God’s creation with greenhouse gases.”

“I love … the trans children.”

“No need to sit and cry over your whiteness or your masculinity. Use… pic.twitter.com/JXMrz7spRz

— Conservative War Machine (@WarMachineRR) March 9, 2026

SUPERCUT: Some of Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico’s most radical views:

“You can’t call yourself a Christian and destroy God’s creation with greenhouse gases.”

“I love …  the trans children.”

“No need to sit and cry over your whiteness or your masculinity. Use it to do something.”

“The American flag is such a complicated symbol for most of us.”

“For me, prophetic voices like Jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness, my own masculinity…”

French is impressed by Talarico, it seems, based entirely on his demeanor. He speaks of Talarico’s being a model for Christian action, but in his commentary piece in the Times, he actually doesn’t mention one action that Talarico has taken. He focuses on his words and tone, as if words and tone produce results pleasing to God. 

The term “theological liberalism” is thrown around a lot.
When push comes to shove though, it still boils down to Richard Niebuhr’s summation of what theological liberalism truly is: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the…

— Wes Huff (@WesleyLHuff) March 10, 2026

The term “theological liberalism” is thrown around a lot. 

When push comes to shove though, it still boils down to Richard Niebuhr’s summation of what theological liberalism truly is: “A God without wrath brought men without sin into a kingdom without judgment through the ministrations of a Christ without a cross” (Kingdom of God in America, 193).

Liberal/progressive Christianity is more than that but it is no less than that, and it will always come down to it. Niebuhr’s words 89 years ago are just as applicable in 1937 as they are today.

Talarico, for instance, uses the story of the Annunciation to prove that God wills abortion. Apparently, French thinks that putting a demonic idea into Biblically deceptive words makes Talarico all right in his book. 

When the baby is murdered, she can be assured that Mary would have wanted it that way. 

Mandate DEI in schools pic.twitter.com/C3EVCcCTnK

— Washington Free Beacon (@FreeBeacon) March 6, 2026

French is of the class of intellectuals who focus on class, not economic class, but whether you are a member of the cultural elite or not. His anti-Trump ramblings are driven, it seems, more by his disgust at how declassé Trump and his supporters are, not by whether they are right or wrong. 

You can be demonic, but do it in a nice suit with a dulcet tone, and everything’s cool. 

James Talarico’s woke Billy Graham shtick has the same function as Tim Walz’s trans-affirming Elmer Fudd persona. Democrats desperately want a rural/religious-coded white male who can make their most unpopular positions seem American as apple pie.https://t.co/KSRbuNEeP1 pic.twitter.com/rpshvWZImx

— Matthew Schmitz (@matthewschmitz) March 4, 2026

It’s a shtick that works with a certain class of people. But then again, Satan’s lures work too. 

Here’s the full article:https://t.co/FeGOIDirfZ

— Mark Finkelstein (@markfinkelstein) March 10, 2026

Great way to win over moderates and Republicans: tell them their religious views are “un-Christian,” a “perversion” and “heretical!” 

“Mr. Talarico, a state legislator and seminary student, used unsparing language to describe what he called “Christian nationalism,” saying such beliefs were “fundamentally un-Christian,” a “perversion” of his faith tradition, “unbiblical” and “heretical.”

Talarico is a perfect example of how the left has been hijacking a version of Christianity to argue for everything from open borders to abortion until birth, and people like French go along with it because the alternative is hanging out with the hoi polloi. 

It’s almost like he has sold his soul. 

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