Loading summary
A
something that you love that's not family or friends
B
i love i'm just saying this because it's on my mind the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol now i have to
A
say after spending the last five ish years talking about the weirdest things that i find on the internet every day very few things take me aback and then i come across this presbyterian pastor nut job who was literally so insane that i am dedicating an entire episode to him so let me introduce you all to jake james talarico who is running for senate in texas now before i tell you about this man and why you should be very concerned if you want behind the scenes content farm blogs all of that fun jazzy stuff go to cooperconfidential dot com that is my subscription platform that we built from the ground up for you guys all right so diving in today i just wanna say that yes this man is running for senate in texas but this episode should matter to you even if you don't live in texas because it is important to see the playbook the democrats are most likely going to be using in twenty twenty six and twenty twenty eight we need to be vigilant we need to be aware and mister james tall is just the perfect example so before we dive into the insane videos that are circulating on the internet right now let's just take a look at the highlights from his campaign page so you have him here the first thing that comes to mind is i feel like every one of us knows some lesbian woman that looks exactly like him like that is the energy that this photo is giving but his website reads meet james tallarico james is an eighth generation texan former middle school teacher ugh that's weird trans kids and presbyterian seminarian as a state representative he's led the fight against the billionaire megadome owners and puppet politicians who have taken over texas now he's running for us senate to take his fight against corruption to washington and to win back power for the working people all right so what this man is doing is he is positioning himself as a down home christian moderate man like color me crazy but i do not think transing the kids is moderate and even in twenty twenty six it's not moderate because the majority of americans are against it the majority of americans are kind of like yeah it's a little step too far but james might not be aware of that polling because he is certainly running with this idea now as you see none of his other positions are that moderate either anyway that clip that i showed you at the top of the episode today is going viral this week after james won his primary in texas he was going up against jasmine crockett he blew that woman right out of the water which honestly i mean good for him i guess but honestly she wasn't a great candidate to begin with but honestly i'm a little sad because making fun of her for the next however many months nine months was gonna be just an absolute treat but instead we have to talk about this fake christian pastor but anyway the point i'm trying to make is that now the entire internet is paying attention to this democrat megastar now that jasmine crockett is out of the way he has set his sights on washington in the last forty eight hours my feed has been filled with videos of him somebody commented on that first video and said instead of something like jesus christ or america or my dogs or even something more superficial like college football this was the answer he chose to connect with his fellow texans which is so true so either he cannot read the room or we should be really worried about our friends over in purple texas somebody else posted this photo and said has anyone seen this guy and isaac from children of the corn in the same room at the same time nope and also i have to say he does look suspiciously suspiciously like elliot page if you catch my drift just saying anyway the big thing over on x right now is people arguing over whether james talarico is a real christian or whether he's more christian than all the maga voters whatever it is but here's the thing i am not a theologian neither is he to be honest anyway i am not a theologian i am not here to do that i will leave that debate up to the people who are more well versed in that arena but i do wanna shine a light on what this man is obviously doing from a strategy standpoint because he is using his faith as a means to an end it is being used as a way to connect with voters and create a palatable brand for most of normal america who just wants a common sense candidate who makes them feel feel good and up until this weekend i will say it has been working i mean even the joe rogan matthew mcconaughey types of the world who want the squishy uncontroversial moderate but sort of conservative ideas are falling for his shtick listen to what they said on a recent episode of
C
joe rogan's podcast james talarico explained it to me he's a texas representative who's also in seminary he's a very religious man and he opposes it and he's a democrat and he said essentially there's two very wealthy men who are they're christian fundamentalists where they want to replace all the funding for public schools and put in private christian they want a theocracy in texas essentially i don't know if he's correct or not but he's
B
saying maybe i don't have a problem with this i do have a problem with this is a beginning of an
C
overcompensation he has a problem with it being in classes he does not agree with it at all and he is a very religious man very religious man like a great christian right and he thinks that this is how you're gonna repel people away from christianity a great
A
christian who doesn't want religion taught in schools make it make sense anyway listen on the surface i get it because this man's branding has been effective and it is fit for the times he was certainly more professional seeming and serious than his opponent jasmine crockett that obviously is saying something but i just want you to look at this ad that he produced back in september this was the first time that i ever saw
B
him just watch the biggest divide in our country is not left versus right it's top versus bottom billionaires want us looking left and right at each other so that we're not looking up at them the people at the top work so hard to keep us angry and divided because our unity is a threat to their wealth and their power so their social media algorithms and their cable news networks tear us apart they divide us by party by race by gender by religion so that we don't notice that they're defunding our schools gutting our health care and cutting taxes for themselves and their rich friends it is the oldest strategy in the world divide and conquer but we will not be conquered we're underdogs in this fight we're going up against those billionaire mega donors and their puppet politicians we're going up against a rigged system and we're going up against a lot of money but i'm a former middle school teacher i don't scare easily
A
okay i cannot keep watching this basically what happens is he continues to say a bunch of empty platitudes about unity the camera continues to pull back the music swells it's twangy it's texan all the things like come on the man is milking it oh my god like he's in the back of a pickup truck preaching perfectly poised right in front of a church the texas flag is hanging suspiciously perfectly in frame he's got a black kid situated in frame elevated on the pickup truck only one of three in the crowd i think so i'm sure that they propped him up right there to be like look look the black community loves him we gotta get you guys too they've got the old school twang going on they've got the filter that makes you feel like you're watching some kind of second coming of jfk it's ridiculous and he's not actually saying anything of substance he's not really talking about policy it's just you know unity look up not right and left come together my brothers and that is what he wanted people to take from that video a feeling an essence a vibe of who he is and let me tell you until now most people have not seen through the filters and the branding and the perfectly positioned chapel and little black boy they have been eating it up just like i've been eating up my new supplements from jevity because guys i am officially a jevity absolutist i am obsessed with this platform and i'm so excited to see the changes that i can make in my body with their new plans for me because let's be honest like how much money have we all spent on just random supplements just shooting from the hip not totally sure if they're actually doing anything not sure if they're right for you if you're taking the right amount i can say from personal experience with me and alex it is a lot of money and it is a completely overwhelming experience but it doesn't have to be that way and gevy can help so the way that jevity works is that they do blood work first they test for over one hundred plus biomarkers and then they show you exactly what is going on in your body and what is missing and i was missing a lot even alex who is my supplement king of a husband has a lot that he's been missing but jevoty is setting us on the right track and the entire process has just been so seamless and simple a phlebotom literally came to our house we got our results within a few days and then their care team built us a custom supplement protocol and a lifestyle plan based on our specific deficiencies and they can do that for you too it is like somebody finally connected the dots and i am so excited so if you are tired of throwing money at problems that you don't actually understand this is different go to goevity dot com brettcooper use code brett for twenty percent off that is g dash o g e v dash i t dash i dot com brettcooper stop guessing and start knowing with jevity and guys if you are also tired of outdated education maybe gcu is the place for you and i am so proud that this show is sponsored by grand canyon university which is an affordable private christian university in phoenix arizona i've been working with them for years now and i'm so proud of everything they are doing gcu doesn't just settle for the status quo they shatter it with rigorous industry driven programs that are built to move at the speed of relevance with practical skills career readiness and opportunity for every single student unlike other colleges they don't want to just make money off of your meaningless degrees they want your education at gcu to be a school springboard into future career success and personal success that is their goal with some three hundred and eighty programs including one hundred and fifty three degree programs one hundred and eighty emphases and fifty six certificate programs there truly is a different path for everyone no matter where you are at in your education recognized for excellence in academics and in campus life gcu's vibrant campus was even ranked in the top twenty best college campuses in the country by niche dot com for twenty twenty six they are grounded in christian truth not tellarico truth and gcu works to empower the next generation to lead with integrity serve with purpose and help transform their communities and build a future that matter so if that sounds like something you're interested in go take action and find your purpose at gcu it is private it's christian affordable and it's nonprofit visit gcu edu to learn more again gcu edu to learn more to get a real christian teaching from somebody who is not james talarico i mean look at these comments from that tiktok video one person said billionaires want us looking right and left at each other so we're not looking up at them absolutely true ella's dad commented and said i never vote dem but i will for this guy why what what did he say that could sway you that he's a middle school teacher so he doesn't scare easily like seriously ella's dad come up with something better somebody else commented and said it's not about blue or red it's about common sense he's right yes so true kingpin new jersey so true but you know the thing is actually for james talarico it actually is left versus right it actually is very partisan and actually his policies are not about common sense they're batshit crazy they're things that you would expect to see at a west hollywood pride parade except he's dressing them up in a tweed suit while holding a bible that is what is happening here and this man is hoping the texas is just too dumb to notice i mean just listen to what he said when he won his primary last week we are
B
running against the broken system and the powerful people who broke it they're they're scared of the movement we are building they're going to throw everything they have at us they're going to call me a radical leftist they're going to call me a fake christian they'll call our movement untexan un american they'll call us a threat the only truth is we are a threat we're a threat to
A
their corrupt system okay just speaking of cherry picking voters to be in these types of promotions i want to know what happens behind the scenes when they're choosing who stands behind a candidate did they go okay well we need the black woman we need the old boomer lady right behind him we need the massive body positive girl to be behind him holding a sign we need the mexican lady over here i mean literally like they are casting a hollywood movie of diversity i got off on a tangent that is not actually what i wanted to talk about in regards to that video anyway back to the point james you are right we are going to call you all of those things because you actually are all of those things so you know what let's just make it easy let's just start with a fake christian bar and again i'm not here to debate the bible or anything but i would argue that you know considering you are a christian man a bible thumping christian man studying at seminary probably shouldn't be following onlyfans models on instagram and yet oops you do that per axios talarico follows ten instagram accounts of women who are popular porn actors onlyfans models and have accounts on escort sites according to publicly available accounts viewed by axios in recent weeks real christian james real christian now these comments were hilarious one person said to be fair it would be the first heterosexual thing he's done again major lesbian vibes another guy said queue it up but jesus had dinner with prostitutes following porn girls as talarico being decent and just like jesus yeah i'm sure it's coming if they are not commenting that already i did see one person comment and say like shut up who cares i bet all the trad conservative husbands do the same thing let him live this doesn't mean anything okay well dude just because other men do it doesn't mean it's right that actually means it is a bigger problem and i know that this is a crazy concept in modern politics but for an elected official a representative somebody more importantly who is leading with his faith who is plastering presbyterian seminarian on every single social media bio on every single webpage should theoretically be leading by example should be holding himself to a higher standard and i would say that if it was somebody on the right if it was somebody on the left that is just across the board a standard that you should hold yourself to if you are a christian man you should not be following onlyfans models crazy idea i know but guys james affinity for escorts online is just scratching the surface with this man colin roog on x aptly summed up what texans are getting themselves into he wrote democrat and presbyterian seminarian james talarico has won the democratic primary for us senate here are some of his thinks illegal immigrant children are more patriotic than american children thinks the torah tells you how to give an abortion thinks the trans community needs abortion too thinks that there are six genders thinks that god is non binary thinks the bible supports gay marriage thinks that jesus supported abortion because he talked to and was kind to women thinks the story of mary's annunciation to see is proof that god supports abortion oh yeah but guys remember he's not a radical leftist no couldn't be him could not be him miss him without we cannot accuse him of being a radical leftist don't forget it on that note this was the most perfect
B
edit just watch they're gonna throw everything they have at us they're gonna call me a radical leftist our trans community needs abortion care too god is non binary modern science obviously recognizes that there are many more than two biological sexes in fact there are six prison is violence it's hard to imagine a world without prison just because it's hard to imagine doesn't mean you shouldn't prison is
A
violence yes the biblical godly thing to do is let rapists and murderers just roam our streets because god forbid we push violence upon them what is this man doing like i'm telling you guys this man is a nutjob somebody commented and said james talarico's woke billy graham schtick has the same function as tim walls 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 and guess what guys it didn't work in twenty twenty four with tim walls and his jazz hands it is not going to work for lesbian looking talarico i am so sorry because everyone saw through tim walls and this commenter is not lying whatsoever like tim got on stage after the election and he said the reason why he was picked to be kamala's running mate was so that he could code speak to the american man the man who runs on stage doing jumps and jazz hands was supposed to code speak to my husband absolutely not that was never going to work just like this man's facade is fading more rapidly every single day anyway moving on from that the same guy who is pro abortion also wants you to know that you cannot be christian and be okay with greenhouse gases just watch you
B
can't call yourself a christian and destroy god's creation with greenhouse gases thank you
A
sir thank you so much sir in my humble opinion you also can't call yourself a christian and be okay with the murder of an unborn child but hey what do i know clearly my friend we are working from completely different premises because in his mind jesus was actually a radical feminist did they teach
B
you in sunday school that jesus christ himself was a radical feminist oh yeah
A
james jesus was for sure like slay queen chuck that little crotch goblin and eat the patriarchy throw it in the trash like what are we doing here guys now the other thing that i want to point out about that radical feminist clip is i just want to zoom in on the crowd here i did not see a single individual that was under the age of about fifty five or sixty years old he is preaching to a room of boomers these are not boomers watching jesse watters and fox news they are the ones who have msnbc on loop these are the boomers who are leaving their retirement homes to don taco outfits to do the no kings protest that is what we are dealing with here so number one that should be frightening because this is what our grandparents are apparently being preached at in church and number two how embarrassing is that for progressives that your primary audience is geriatrics anyway moving on from that i will say this whole thing really does remind me of an interview that i did recently with a drag queen i think it should be coming out this month we'll see how that goes it was crazy but this drag queen he told me similar things he was saying you know jesus was queer jesus was effeminate et cetera et cetera and it's very easy like for me to sit there and laugh it off as utter absurdity when the person telling you that who's sitting across from you is a man wearing a miniskirt with a full face of makeup and a wig in like seven inch heels but it's a lot harder for people especially normies who are not chronically online scrolling on x every day like we are when it is a pastor up at the pulpit preaching telling them these things when it is the most normal wasp y looking man alive telling you that jesus was a radical feminist who wanted abortion for trans people like that's insane and that is why the democrats are so excited about this man because he is a radical leftist going undercover as your average waspy white joe but guys do not worry speaking of the whiteness because he has been actively listening and learning and doing the work for
B
me prophetic voices like jesus have helped me reckon with my own whiteness my own masculinity my own certainty my own ego it's a never ending process and it's a painful process ah yes the
A
painful process of understanding your whiteness thank goodness jesus is there to walk you through that radical act snaps for you james now i will say he was even brave enough to admit back in twenty twenty that his whiteness protected him from COVID these are real things that he tweeted in twenty twenty he said white skin gives me and every white american immunity from the virus but we we spread it wherever we go through our words our actions and our systems we don't have to be showing symptoms like a white hood or a confederate flag to be contagious oh wow what analogy for covid james the only cure is diagnosing the virus within ourselves and taking dramatic actions to contain the spread the first small step is proclaiming loudly and unequivocally that blacklivesmatter excellent james you're an ally thank you so much did you enjoy white fragility did you leave a five star rating on goodreads i'm sure you did like james you might even be slimier than gavin newsom and that is saying something this might be controversial but i actually think that gavin newsom might be more of a normal moderate guy but he's been playing the role of this woke progressive man to stay in power but honestly the man just wants power he just wants to be president and he's going to say whatever he will have to say to make that happen which makes him dangerous still but james seems far more calculated and sinister there is something totally off putting about him like i have the heebie jeebies when i watch any of these sermons so seeing these next comments that i'm going to read you actually made me feel good even though i know it was not the intended effect people were saying james is the literal opposite of charlie kirk and that is a damn great thing we need to protect this man at all costs and you need to see she wrote that four days after charlie was shot in the neck another person said the exact opposite of charlie kirk now here's the thing those commenters aren't wrong james is completely different than charlie kirk and that is a good thing because charlie would run circles around this man in terms of intellect and consistency and faith and family charlie was a christian who did not distort the bible for his agenda and his politics and his faith were harmonious they were not a means to an end which is so clearly what is happening with james talarico james is playing a part he is playing a role even down to his ads and the way that he's preaching and the people that he has in the background it is all an act and he uses being a presbyterian seminarian to shield his incredibly radical controversial ideas while playing the role of a moderate christian everyman meanwhile democrats everywhere are celebrating him for finally being a real christian not cherry picking politics like the bad conservatives to push his agenda but i mean come on take a look in the damn mirror that is exactly what he's doing he has cherry picked love thy neighbor and essentially ignored every other passage in the whole book but considering that the lot of you really only like faith and christianity when it benefits you in winning new voters i wouldn't expect you to know that
Date: March 11, 2026
Host: Brett Cooper
Episode Theme:
This episode focuses on James Talarico, a Texas state representative, Presbyterian seminarian, and recent Democratic primary winner for the U.S. Senate. Brett scrutinizes Talarico's self-presentation as a moderate Christian while unpacking what she describes as his radical leftist beliefs, campaign messaging, and use of Christian identity for political ends. The episode explores broader trends in political branding, the changing nature of progressive candidates, and the risks Brett sees in Talarico's strategy for both Texas and the U.S. at large.
| Timestamp | Speaker | Quote | |-----------|---------|-------| | 00:15 | Brett | “Very few things take me aback and then I come across this Presbyterian pastor nut job… I am dedicating an entire episode to him.” | | 01:08 | Brett | “Transing the kids is not moderate… the majority of Americans are against it.” | | 03:50 | Brett | “He is using his faith as a means to an end… And up until this weekend I will say it has been working.” | | 04:33 | Rogan’s guest | “He’s a Texas representative who’s also in seminary… a great Christian right, and he thinks that this is how you’re gonna repel people away from Christianity.” | | 05:06 | Brett | “A great Christian who doesn’t want religion taught in schools, make it make sense…” | | 06:18 | Brett | “He’s got a black kid situated in frame elevated on the pickup truck only one of three in the crowd…” | | 10:58 | Brett | “This man is hoping that Texas is just too dumb to notice.” | | 11:44 | Talarico | “They’re gonna call me a radical leftist… The only truth is we are a threat. We’re a threat to their corrupt system.” | | 13:23 | Brett | “If you are a Christian man, you should not be following OnlyFans models—crazy idea I know!” | | 14:39 | Montage | “Our trans community needs abortion care too… God is non-binary… Prison is violence.” | | 15:10 | Brett | “Yes, the biblical godly thing to do is let rapists and murderers just roam our streets because god forbid we push violence upon them.” | | 16:16 | Talarico | “You can’t call yourself a Christian and destroy God’s creation with greenhouse gases.” | | 16:23 | Brett | “You also can’t call yourself a Christian and be okay with the murder of an unborn child but hey what do I know…” | | 18:39 | Brett | “Thank goodness Jesus is there to walk you through that radical act, snaps for you James.” | | 18:46 | Paraphrasing Talarico | “White skin gives me and every white American immunity from the virus but we… spread it wherever we go…” | | 19:22 | Brett | “There is something totally off putting about him like I have the heebie jeebies when I watch any of these sermons.” |
Summary Takeaway:
This episode is an energetic and highly critical breakdown of how political and cultural messaging—fronted by faith, carefully crafted visuals, and social media virality—can obscure policy substance. Brett Cooper scrutinizes James Talarico, warning that his brand of moderate Christian populism may be a template for future progressive campaigns, and urges viewers to look beyond branding to real-world beliefs and policy implications.