After months of sustaining heavy fire for his radical left-wing views, U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D) is now weaving, dodging, and running for cover. The Texas Democrat gave Fox News an exclusive interview at a Tuesday campaign event in Dallas where he tried to rebrand himself into the most moderate version imaginable.
Transgender Surgery for Minors
In the interview, Talarico claimed he would “absolutely” vote for a national ban on transgender surgery for minors.
A transgender surgery ban is the barest possible restriction on gender transition procedures for minors, since most minors placed on transgender hormones do not receive surgery until after they turn 18. Even advocates of transgender procedures for children admit that such plastic surgeries are rarely recommended, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) publicly repudiated such surgeries for minors in February of this year.
Talarico insisted that this promise was “consistent” with his past record, which included a 2023 vote against Texas SB 14, which protected minors from surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers. Talarico explained that vote by calling the bill “overly broad,” noting that he “voted for a major amendment to limit the bill to banning surgeries for minors.”
In fact, Fox News noted, Talarico voted for all 18 amendments Democrats offered to water down the bill, none of which succeeded.
Still, Talarico’s apparent new support for a national ban on transgender surgery for minors represents a surprising lurch to the center. During President Biden’s abortive 2024 reelection campaign, the White House so angered pro-transgender groups by declaring, “we believe these surgeries should be limited to adults,” that it was later forced to backtrack and reaffirm gender transition procedures for minors.
What has changed since early 2024? First, Donald Trump shellacked Kamala Harris in the general election after a devastating ad that tied Harris to transgender extremism. This shifted the entire conversation (and national mood) back towards biological reality. The cultural sentiment paved the way for the ASPS to publicly question these procedures for minors, as stated above.
Finally, there oftentimes is an unfortunate distinction between the promises a candidate makes on the campaign trail (especially a Democrat campaigning in Texas) and the policies he pursues in office. Left-wing groups, who would like nothing more than to see Texas elect a progressive Democrat to the Senate, may not hit Talarico for making such a promise as hard as they would if, after being elected, he dared to take such a vote.
On the other hand, promising to support a national ban on transgender surgery for minors gives Talarico cover where he has taken a lot of fire.
Boys in Girls’ Sports
In the same interview, Talarico promised to “oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness.”
Fox News interpreted these comments as “a shift from his earlier position as a Texas state lawmaker,” noting that Talarico voted against at least two Texas bills requiring public school athletes to compete in sports according to their biological sex.
However, Talarico’s comment is open to two interpretations. The key hinge is the conditional phrase, “if it risks safety or fairness.” Most conservatives automatically supply a premise to complete the syllogism: of course allowing boys into girls’ sports risks safety and fairness.
But progressives disagree. As Fox News stated, Talarico opposed girls’ sports bills in 2021 because he said it was a “manufactured problem” — or, to put it in other terms, there was no real issue of safety or fairness.
Under this interpretation, Talarico’s latest statement did not say much at all. He only says he will oppose boys in girls’ sports based on a condition he does not believe to be true.
Notice also the choice of words. Talarico did not say “boys in girls’ sports” but “trans athletes in girls’ sports.” The former presents the moral injustice of the situation, while the latter still presents it as an issue of advancing “trans rights.” This unconscious word choice provides further evidence that Talarico’s mind on this issue has not been changed.
Non-Binary God?
The Fox News interview team also asked Talarico about two past statements that were more theological than political. During the girls’ sports debate in 2021, Talarico declared on the Texas House floor, “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.” In the Tuesday interview, Talarico retracted this statement to an unexpected degree.
“I was being provocative with that statement. I get that,” he said. “What I was trying to say is that you can’t use human categories to define God, and that’s not controversial theologically. In fact, the late Charlie Kirk [and] the late Pope Benedict all said the same thing.”
This is right and wrong at the same time. It is right in that Talarico retreated to the safe theological ground of affirming God cannot be defined in human categories. But it is wrong in that this was not what Talarico meant five years ago. If he had, his statement would have been irrelevant to the legislative debate, not a powerful, viral moment. The whole point of his provocative statement was to redefine humanity by a comparison to God, which required redefining God to match the desired outcome.
While he remains a tad too defensive, it is good to see Talarico offer a semi-retraction of his cartoonishly absurd blasphemy. But readers should harbor no illusions that Talarico has reformed his radical theology.
Six Sexes?
Fox News also pressed Talarico on his previous statement that there are six sexes.
“I’ve missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it,” he said (even though, chronologically speaking, “the first” person to point out the error of Talarico’s statements did so years ago). “What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there’s a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities.”
Again, it strains credulity to say that Talarico actually meant that when he said there are six sexes, but it’s good to see him affirming biological reality now.
It’s not possible to say that Talarico has moderated any of his views based on the statements made in this interview, but they are illuminating all the same. As a politician trying to win an election in challenging territory, he is executing the strategy of pivoting to the center. He understands how damaging these past radical statements on gender and sexuality are, and he is trying to erect a hasty shield to protect himself from incoming fire. Talarico may not have changed his beliefs, but he has certainly felt the heat.
