James Talarico's "Scandal" Makes Me Like Him More!

Summary

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Bulwark Takes – Episode Summary

Episode: James Talarico's "Scandal" Makes Me Like Him More!
Host: The Bulwark Team (Tim O, Sarah, John)
Date: November 9, 2025

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Episode Overview

This episode features Tim O from The Bulwark breaking down recent political developments, fresh off the road following Crooked Con, and responding in real time to breaking news items. The two main focuses are a spirited debate panel at Crooked Con about the future of Democratic strategy (should the left moderate or "triple down") and the so-called "scandal" involving Texas State Senate candidate James Talarico's social media behavior. The episode maintains a casual, irreverent tone throughout, with Tim O inserting both humor and sharp analysis.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Crooked Con Recap: The Democratic Dilemma

Segment Starts: [01:29]

Panel Participants:

• John Lovett (Moderator), Jessica Tarlov, Simone Sanders, Hassan Piker, Tim O

Key Debate:
Should Democrats win by moderating policy positions or by "tripling down" on strong, sometimes divisive stances—mirroring what some believe drove the GOP's 2016 success?

a. Recap of the Panel's Composition

• Simone Sanders argued from the progressive left, suggesting the right won by embracing extreme positions (not moderation).
• Hasan Piker reflected left populist, anti-capitalist perspectives.
• Jessica Tarlov was positioned as a moderate.
• Tim O represented a centrist/center-right anti-Trump POV.

b. Main Exchange: "Triple Down" or Moderate?

• [03:31] Simone Sanders:
  “They didn’t win because they opened up the aperture and let people do what they need to do. They won because they tripled down on what they believed.”

• [03:38] Tim O (interrupting):
  “That sounds good and I like it. I want it to be right. It’s just not right.”

• [03:46] Simone Sanders:
  “Yes. They tripled down on racism. Yeah, it was populism, but... Populism had a little white supremacy in it, a little racism. Like, Bernie Sanders is a populist in a different way than Donald Trump.”

• [04:10] Tim O adds:
  “Yeah, he doubled down on a bunch of terrible shit that they believe. He also was seen as left of Kamala on foreign policy, as an anti-war candidate, as anti the Republican establishment... He cut to the middle on that.”

Tim O ultimately believes that while Trump did “triple down” on the far right on social issues (race, immigration), he simultaneously “cut to the middle” in other areas, especially foreign policy and sometimes economically, muddying the idea that voters simply reward extremism:

• “I think if the Democrats try to go far-left on everything, including social and foreign policy issues, that ends up potentially being problematic.” ([09:00])

c. Analytical Takeaways

• Trump’s perceived moderation (even if dishonest) on some key issues helped him build a cross-cutting coalition.
• Democrats attempting the same "triple down" strategy risk alienating moderate and swing voters.
• Debate remains open as to whether passion or moderation wins more votes in today’s climate.

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2. James Talarico "Scandal": Nothingburger or Political Asset?

Segment Starts: [09:26]

Background:
Axios reports that James Talarico, a Christian pastor and Democrat running for Texas Senate, follows several adult entertainers and OnlyFans creators on social media, and once messaged one a polite thank you.

a. Tim O’s Reaction

• “My response to this is hell yeah, James Talarico. I mean maybe there’d be hypocrisy here if he was actually hiring escorts, right? ...But like, he’s a single man, he’s on social media, he’s doing well, is a rare Democrat who’s like doing well communicating with younger people on TikTok.” ([10:02])
• Tim O notes that Talarico stands out as a Democrat who connects with younger voters and the “manosphere”—a demographic Democrats often struggle with.
• Wonders aloud whether the leak was calculated:
  “Part of me almost wonders if this was a self-leak from the Talarico campaign to show young men that he can hang with the bros.”

b. Thoughts on Democrats and Masculinity

• “The Democrats need more dudes who are into hot girls. Most dudes are into hot girls. That’s fine.” ([10:18])
• Cites Bill Clinton as an example, with the caveat, “You know, went a little overboard after a while.”
• Feels Democrats’ lack of “masculine energy” has hurt key voting blocks:
  “If anything, this probably only helps him as far as I’m concerned, and particularly in the Democratic Party, where I think there’s been kind of a little lack of masculine energy in ways that have hurt them with some key demos of voters over the past couple cycles.” ([11:55])

c. Flipping the Gender

• Argues publicly following attractive people shouldn’t be news for either sex.
  “If Mikey Sherrill had been following some muscle guys on social media, I'd have been like, hell, yeah, Mikey Sherrill as well. This is... we’re all humans, after all.” ([12:05])

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3. Trump’s Pardons and Political Distractions

Segment Starts: [12:05]

• Briefly covers Trump’s recent pardoning spree (Darryl Strawberry, a CCP agent, a crypto exec), and bold headlines like “bombing boats in Venezuela.”
• Observes:
  “Maybe dial back the focus on all that stuff and actually focus on the fact that people’s lives are being harmed materially right now by the shutdown and by the shitty economy.” ([13:40])
• Tim O’s advice to Trump: focus less on showy gestures, more on the economy—but jokes, “I’m not here to give Donald Trump advice.”

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4. Candace Owens, Leaked Texts, and Conservative Infighting

Segment Starts: [13:43]

• References a developing feud among conservative media figures (Candace Owens, Charlie Kirk, Ben Shapiro, Tucker Carlson).
• Cautions against leaking private texts as part of intra-right beefs but hints at returning to this story soon:
  “I want to do a deeper dive on this actually… so that'll be just a little teaser for you guys.” ([14:31])

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5. Recommended Listening & Final Thoughts

Segment Starts: [14:36]

• Recommends Sarah and JBL’s secret show on USAID cuts and Elon Musk’s proposed trillion-dollar Tesla package.
• “It's truly, the world deserves better rich people or fewer maybe.” ([15:19])

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Simone Sanders ([03:31]):
  “They won because they tripled down on what they believed. Even if what they believe… was a little white supremacy in it, a little racism. Bernie Sanders is a populist in a different way than Donald Trump.”

• Tim O ([04:10]):
  “He also was seen as left of Kamala on foreign policy. He was seen as an anti-war candidate… He did cut to the middle on stuff.”

• Tim O ([10:02]):
  “Hell yeah, James Talarico… The Democrats need more dudes who are into hot girls. Most dudes are into hot girls. That’s fine. That worked for Bill Clinton.”

• Tim O ([13:40]):
  “Maybe dial back the focus on all that stuff and actually focus on the fact that people’s lives are being harmed materially right now by the shutdown and by the shitty economy.”

• Tim O ([14:36]):
  “It's truly, the world deserves better rich people or fewer maybe.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [01:29] Crooked Con recap and panel lineup
• [03:31] Simone and Tim O square off: "Triple down" vs. moderate?
• [09:26] James Talarico "scandal"
• [12:05] Trump pardon spree, political distractions
• [13:43] Candace Owens vs. Charlie Kirk/Shapiro—teaser
• [14:36] Recommendations and wind-down

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This episode blends fiery panel debate, irreverent takes on “scandal” politics, and a rapid-fire rundown of the latest news cycles, all in The Bulwark’s unfiltered and slightly cheeky style. If you appreciate straight talk—and political meme-making—this is a can’t-miss, especially for anyone trying to understand the strategic crossroads facing Democrats as 2026 looms.

Transcript

[Sarah]

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[John]

Oatmeal.

[Sarah]

So long, you strange soggy.

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[Tim O]

Hey everybody. Tim O from the Bulwark here. I have successfully navigated travel during the government shutdown. Shout out to all the folks doing.

[John]

The work out there.

[Tim O]

The government workers aren't getting paid at.

[John]

Our airports because it's. Fuck, it's a disaster. It's tough out there.

[Tim O]

But I was at Crooked con in.

[John]

Washington D.C. the event put on by our friends over at Pod Save America.

[Tim O]

I think I was on maybe the spiciest panel of the whole conference. Shocker. And so I want to talk to you a little bit about that. There are a few other issues that are percolating this Saturday that I wanted to give you my take on before.

[John]

I go out and enjoy a beautiful fall day here in New Orleans.

[Tim O]

But first, to Crooked Con. So my panel was moderated by my.

[John]

Friend of me, John Lovett and Jessica.

[Tim O]

Tarloff, who's on the pod on Friday. If you have not watched that, go watch it. Simone Sanders, myself and Hassan Piker, who if you don't know him, you're probably a boomer. Hassan is extremely popular with the youth.

[John]

He is a far left. He's kind of like Zoran on steroids as far as his ideology is concerned.

[Tim O]

So, you know, a mix of views.

[John]

Right?

[Tim O]

I mean, Simone worked for Bernie and then worked for Biden.

[John]

Hasan is left populist, anti, anti capitalist.

[Tim O]

I think it'd be fair to say you got me. You got Jessica Charlotte, who's a raging moderate. And so, you know, we're covering the gambit and talking about how Dems can have a good time and have fun and appeal to people who listen to Hasan show, but also who listen to.

[John]

You know, Shane Gillis's podcast.

[Tim O]

Like, people who are, like, in the political center who moved to Trump this last time. You know, I almost feel like I.

[John]

Should do a longer thing with Hasan because obviously our views are so different. And we did kind of go back and forth a little bit on policing and a few other issues.

[Tim O]

But the fireworks actually came between me.

[John]

And Simone, who I love. And so nothing personal, just this is all.

[Tim O]

It's all part of the game. We're all trying to figure out the best way to do this. There's going to be some disagreements, some heated disagreements. And on a play for you, a.

[John]

Little clip from Crooked Con of Simone and I getting into it a little bit.

[Simone Sanders]

They didn't win because they opened up the aperture and let people do what they need to do. They won because they tripled down on what they believed. Even if what they believe.

[Tim O]

Right. That's just not. I'm sorry, that sounds good and I like it. I want it to be right. It's just not right.

[Simone Sanders]

They didn't win because they tripled down on what they believed.

[Tim O]

No, they did triple down on what they believed.

[Simone Sanders]

Yes. They tripled down on racism. Yeah, it was populism, but he was a. Populism is a thin ideology mixed with a thick ideology. According to Cass Mudd, his populism was a little. Had a lot of things in. He was an economic populist, but populism had a little white supremacy in it, a little racism. Like, Bernie Sanders is a populist in a different way than Donald Trump.

[Tim O]

Yeah. Here's the thing, though.

[Simone Sanders]

I don't understand.

[Tim O]

Here's the thing, though. Can I just say really quick, though, here's the thing, like, yeah, he doubled down on a bunch of terrible shit that they believe.

[John]

That's extreme.

[Tim O]

No doubt.

[John]

No doubt.

[Tim O]

He also was seen as left of Kamala on foreign policy. He was seen as an anti war candidate. He was seen as anti the Republican establishment. Of war. He cut to the middle on that. Yeah, he lied about that. For sure.

[Simone Sanders]

He's a liar.

[Tim O]

But then, then maybe our guy should lie about some things that are popular, too. Okay, okay. It's a little bit of a shorter clip. You know, I don't want to, you know, make you watch the whole deal. But the gist of the argument is.

[John]

And I think this is a fair representation of Simone's point of view, she's saying basically, why should the left have to necessarily moderate?

[Tim O]

Because the right did it.

[John]

You know, the right went all in on racism, fascism, misogyny, and they won. It's maybe a misjudgment to think that the Democrats need to do something different. Maybe the Democrats just need to go all in on their, you know, on views, on extreme views and do so passionately and do so in a way that alienates and ostracizes the right. And maybe the Democrats can take the maximalist views that they have of various issues and win. I think that's a reasonable thing to say.

[Tim O]

It's a reasonable view, I think, particularly if you're coming from the left to.

[John]

Look at Trump and say he didn't. Why do I have to moderate? He won over. How did he win over the middle.

[Tim O]

You know, when he's so extreme on all these issues, particularly immigration and race issues. I hear that. I understand that perspective, as I said in the clip. I just think it's wrong and just kind of expanding. The one example I give in the clip was on foreign policy. I think this is the most prime example. Trump does cut to the middle. And sometimes in the way that we're.

[John]

Using middle here is a little confusing.

[Tim O]

So I guess you should just say, if you take the Republican Party before Trump, the far right wing of the.

[John]

Party, I guess Ted Cruz would represent the far right wing of the party. The.

[Tim O]

They are a very aggressive foreign policy, you know, for the Iraq war, very.

[John]

Pro Israel, you know, very pro interventionist.

[Tim O]

Ted Cruz, an extremely far right social.

[John]

Conservatism on abortion, on gays, and also on immigration. You have at that time kind of what was seen as the right wing views on economic issues, which is, you.

[Tim O]

Know, obviously cutting taxes for everybody, but.

[John]

Also, you know, cuts to Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, such cuts to the social safety net. Right.

[Tim O]

So like, that Ted Cruz view is.

[John]

A closer analog to like the inverse of, you know, aoc.

[Tim O]

Right.

[John]

You know, who is taking kind of the left position on basically everything in the Democratic coalition. Right. And so if you're kind of drawing a line across you have the Ted Cruz view over here and the AOC over here.

[Tim O]

So now Trump comes in and he outflanks Cruz on the right on a.

[John]

Couple of things, right?

[Tim O]

He comes up with fucking policies no one even thought of before. We're going to ban all Muslims. You know, like, I want to end birthright citizenship, right? So Trump does. And so I hear someone's point on this. He does go to the far right, particularly on a lot of race issues. But like, we also just need to be eyes open to the fact that Trump also cut to the middle on.

[John]

Several issues on foreign policy, saying that.

[Tim O]

He'S going to be the peace candidate, he's going to end wars. These wars have been stupid.

[John]

The neocons are dumb.

[Tim O]

He did that. And that's a popular view. As a neocon, it hurts me, but that's a popular view. He took a smart, strategic, popular view and some of it was bs. But just like he did that, he did cut to the middle on stuff. He did cut to the middle on abortion. Again, was he lying about his position on abortion?

[John]

Yeah, but he wasn't taking the far right pro life view on abortion.

[Tim O]

And the Democrats are trying to say.

[John]

That he really would enact those policies.

[Tim O]

And he has, right? But Trump himself, in his own rhetoric, you know, tried to distance himself, you know, talking about how Mike Pence was.

[John]

Pretty extreme, you know, tried to cut.

[Tim O]

To the middle on abortion, on Social Security and Medicare again, there have been cuts.

[John]

Well, not Social Security, but particularly to healthcare programs.

[Tim O]

But Trump knew that he had a lot of old people in his coalition, a lot of seniors. Like, he was like, I'm not gonna. These guys are crazy.

[John]

I want to cut Social Security and Medicare.

[Tim O]

Like, I'm gonna make us a lot of money and that's how we're pay for it, right? On ivf. I remember he came out on IVF and said, the tariffs are going to pay for ivf. Now, a lot of this was bullshit, nonsense, okay? But it happened and voters heard it. And so voters looked at Trump and they didn't necessarily see him as like somebody who is a down the line, far right ideologue, somebody who's extreme on some issues, different on others, practical businessman, whatever. And I think that if the Democrats are going to try to figure out how can they win, how can they appeal to people in the middle, they should learn from that. I'm not saying that they shouldn't take the left. And later in this panel, I said that me and Hasan disagree on a lot of stuff. I agree with him on the fact.

[John]

That the Democrats should take some left.

[Tim O]

Populist economic views that are left of where Kamala and Hillary have been. But if they do that and then also take the left, far left flank view on social issues and also take it on foreign, you see, I think that ends up potentially being problematic. So much more to discuss about this in the years ahead. But that's kind of a summary of the views. Like I said, a bunch of other.

[John]

Stuff happened this Saturday I wanted to weigh in on.

[Tim O]

There's a story from Axios about James.

[John]

Talarico, the Christian pastor Democrat that's running for Texas Senate.

[Tim O]

I guess on social media he, he follows, quote, several adult film performers, escorts and OnlyFans models. According to an Axios review.

[John]

Axios goes on to show some of.

[Tim O]

The pictures of these folks. They're hotties and again, not for me per se, but objectively, they're good looking. They all get a lot of followers. Axios says that staff went and looked.

[John]

To see if Talarico had like chatted.

[Tim O]

With any of them and he had.

[John]

Sent one of them a message that just said thank you Alice after she posted a pro Talarico story.

[Tim O]

So my response to this is hell yeah, James Talarico, I mean maybe there'd be hypocrisy here if he was actually hiring escorts, right?

[John]

That would may go against his like his stated religious views.

[Tim O]

But like he's a single man, he's on social media, he's doing well, is a rare Democrat who's like doing well communicating with younger people. On TikTok, he's a rare Democrat. He's able to go into the manosphere, hang out with Joe Rogan for a while. Like, yeah, he's gonna follow hot girls on Instagram. Great. The Democrats need more dudes who are into hot girls. Most dudes are into hot girls. That's fine. That worked for Bill Clinton. You know, went a little overboard after a while. But to me, I almost wonder if this was a self leak from the Talarico campaign to show young men that he's just, he can hang with the bros. Because I don't, I don't see any issue here. You know, I mean part of me.

[John]

Is thinking that maybe Talarico staff's quote should have been a little less defensive. I guess they said, here's what they said. They said the social media team, including James, follows back and engages with supporters.

[Tim O]

Who have large followings and does not investigate their backgrounds.

[John]

James has never subscribed to OnlyFans or an escort service.

[Tim O]

Well, if you subscribe to OnlyFans, does that really matter?

[John]

I don't know.

[Tim O]

I mean, part of me thinks that.

[John]

They should just reply, james likes big butts. And he. And we cannot lie about it because we're running an honest campaign. And I think that'd be fine because people are allowed to like beautiful other people and want to enjoy the fruits of that interest. That's good. That's how the species procreates.

[Tim O]

So good on you, James Talarico, for getting your dog on. On Instagram. I don't. I don't see any issue here. If anything, this probably only helps him as far as I'm concerned, and particularly in the Democratic Party, where I think there's been kind of a little lack.

[John]

Of masculine energy in ways that have hurt them with some key demos of voters over the past couple cycles. So.

[Tim O]

Also, by the way, inverse is true. Inverse is true. Okay, so probably not. I'm trying to think of a woman Senate candidate off the top of my head right now. Probably not gonna be Janet Mills. You know, if Mikey Sherrill had been following some muscle guys on social media, I would have been like, hell, yeah, Mikey Sherrill as well. You know, this is. We're all humans, after all. Another thing, just while working Elder millennial talk, Donald Trump has pardoned Darryl Strawberry. Famous New York Met. I was a Cardinals fan as a child, but it was hard not to like the Mets. The Mets were cool in the.

[John]

In the 80s.

[Tim O]

Doc Gooden, Daryl Strawberry. Then Daryl Strawberry makes the appearance on that Simpsons.

[John]

That great Simpsons episode.

[Tim O]

You stink, Strawberry. We won Home run Homer, Daryl. This is a fine pardon for me, but it seems to be like Trump's flailing, like he's looking at this, and it's like he's out there last week.

[John]

Saying he doesn't want to hear people talk about affordability. And so what's he doing? And it's like, we're doing a ballroom.

[Tim O]

We're doing all these pardons. He pardoned another Chinese agent, actually, this weekend to a CCP agent. I'm going to get into that a.

[John]

Little bit more in this coming week.

[Tim O]

But we're doing pardons of CCP agents, partner crypto guys, pardons of baseball players. We're, you know, putting some new AU bomb pan lettering outside the Oval Office. We're bombing boats in Venezuela. It's like, maybe dial back the focus on all that stuff and actually focus on the fact that people's lives are being harmed materially right now by the shutdown and by the shitty economy.

[John]

That's probably what I would do if I was Donald Trump. But I'm not here to give Donald Trump advice.

[Tim O]

Do I want to talk? Should we. Do you want to hear about the Candace Owens stuff? She's leaking old Charlie Kirk texts or.

[John]

Kirk's trash and Ben Shapiro?

[Tim O]

I don't know.

[John]

I want to do a deeper dive on this actually.

[Tim O]

If part of me is like don't.

[John]

Leak people's text posthumously, I don't think.

[Tim O]

I don't leak my text. If I texted you out there and you can leak something. If I text you something really nice.

[John]

And I get killed, you can leak that. That's nice. But don't leak my texts as part of your beef.

[Tim O]

That said, I think that the substance.

[John]

Of all of it is interesting. Just kind of like basically Kirk being more on this more populous side of this debate in private than this ongoing feud between Ben Shapiro and Tucker and Candace. And so I'm going to do more, I want to do one on that. May as well summer later this week.

[Tim O]

So that'll be just a little teaser for you guys.

[John]

We'll put a pin in that.

[Tim O]

So that's that a bunch of stuff happening from this week. Go check. I also really enjoyed the Secret show.

[John]

With Sarah and JBL where they're talking about the just devastating USAID news and kind of pairing that with Elon Musk trying to get a trillion dollar package, getting a trillion dollar package from the Tesla board after being like single handedly killing like being result being responsible for the deaths of the poorest people in the world because we had to, I don't know, tighten our belts. It's truly the world deserves better rich people or fewer maybe.

[Tim O]

So go watch that. It was really good.

[John]

Go watch Sarah and jbl, their secret podcast. Check that out if you haven't. It was a good conversation. What came out yesterday on Friday.

[Tim O]

That's my rundown of everything. We'll see what the news brings tomorrow maybe back here on Sunday or otherwise. Will Salatin or some of my Sam Stein, some of my colleagues will be here and we'll be seeing you for the podcast on Monday. Subscribe to the feed Go Tigers.

[John]

Have a great weekend.