MS NOW Says James Talarico 'Can Out-Bible' GOP, Race Will Be 'Good Versus Evil'

Alex Christy
May 27th, 2026 1:37 PM

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After Tuesday’s GOP Senate Primary in Texas, MS NOW’s Ana Cabrera welcomed former Bush and McCain advisor Mark McKinnon to her show the following day to react. McKinnon twice stated that the matchup is more than Republican Ken Paxton versus Democrat James Talarico but that it is “good versus evil.”

Paxton overcame some personal baggage to unseat incumbent John Cornyn with the help of an endorsement from President Trump, which led Cabrera to wonder, “Will this end up being a ‘be careful what you wish for situation’ for Trump and his allies?”

 

 

For McKinnon, the answer was obvious, “Well, no question about it, Ana. I worked for the last Texas governor, Democratic governor, Ann Richards. That was 35 years ago. And so every cycle comes around, and I hear from media and friends that say, ‘Oh, you know, this time it's the rising tide, blue wave.’ And I'm usually the one tapping the brakes, but I think that there's a perfect storm lining up here. First of all, just a bad environment for Republicans in general. Secondly, an exceptional candidate in James Talarico. And thirdly, I think a really unpopular Republican nominee in Ken Paxton.”

Returning to his second point, McKinnon added, “This is going to be a good versus evil—and I think that Talarico is—a just a different kind of candidate. He talks about values, and he can out-Bible the Republicans.”

Talarico’s version of the Bible has led him to conclude that God is non-binary, that there are six sexes—apparently, the party of science believes things like Klinefelter Syndrome constitute a unique sex—and that Jesus would approve of abortion. That is not a man who can “out-Bible” anyone.

A bit later, Cabrera teed up a chopped-up clip of Paxton’s victory speech for McKinnon to react to by declaring, “I did say at the top, this is going to get pricier, and it's going to get uglier. And Mark, the mudslinging for the general election here for the Senate seat in Texas has already begun. Let's listen to Paxton. Here's a sample of his message.”

In the clip, Paxton cited Talarico’s statement about God being non-binary in addition to some other beliefs, “My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign, whatever that is… I've even heard some people call him James Tala-freak-o, and others refer to him simply as Low T Talarico.… He's a threat to our very way of life and our values. I mean, he's a vegan who thinks God is non-binary.

Cabrera then wondered, “Mark, if that's a preview of Paxton's strategy against Talarico, how viable is that type of attack strategy?”

 

 

McKinnon began by replying, “It seems like pretty weak sauce to me. I mean, first of all, he's not a vegan, but if that's their attack, bring it on again.”

Talarico may not be a vegan, but he has said that people need to reduce their meat consumption to fight climate change, and in his 2022 State House race, he said, “I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign... We are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses.”

McKinnon then doubled down on his good versus evil framing:

Again, I think the thing about Talarico, you really need to watch him watch his speech. He's really got a different approach, a different framing of issues. He talks about values in a way that's really compelling. And he talks about citizenship. And it's just such a complete, polar opposite from Ken Paxton. I mean, this is really going to be a good versus evil kind of framing and race and people, I think, listen, I know Republicans in Dallas, for example, in that '18 race who wanted to vote for Beto because they didn't like Cruz, but at the end, they just couldn't do it. But I just talked to them this morning and they said there's no way they're going to vote for Paxton.

James Talarico so radical that if Republicans created a Democratic caricature in a lab, it would be hard to tell the difference between them. It is not “good” for society to believe there are anything other than two sexes. It is not “good” for society to believe God approves of abortion. No amount of “but Paxton” can change that.

Here is a transcript for the May 27 show:

MS NOW Ana Cabrera Reports

5/27/2026

10:05 AM ET

ANA CABRERA: Will this end up being a “be careful what you wish for situation” for Trump and his allies?

MARK MCKINNON: Well, no question about it, Ana. I worked for the last Texas governor, Democratic governor, Ann Richards. That was 35 years ago. And so every cycle comes around, and I hear from media and friends that say, “Oh, you know, this time it's the rising tide, blue wave.”

And I'm usually the one tapping the brakes, but I think that there's a perfect storm lining up here. First of all, just a bad environment for Republicans in general. Secondly, an exceptional candidate in James Talarico. And thirdly, I think a really unpopular Republican nominee in Ken Paxton. This is going to be a good versus evil—and I think that Talarico is—a just a different kind of candidate. He talks about values, and he can out-Bible the Republicans. So, listen, it's interesting to see what Mike can say because he was in the last race that Beto got within three points. So it's doable. And so I kick it over to Mike and just see what he has to say, comparing that race to this one.

…

CABRERA: I did say at the top, this is going to get pricier, and it's going to get uglier. And Mark, the mudslinging for the general election here for the Senate seat in Texas has already begun. Let's listen to Paxton. Here's a sample of his message.

KEN PAXTON: My opponent is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign, whatever that is. [jump cut] I've even heard some people call him James Tala-freak-o, and others refer to him simply as Low T Talarico. [jump cut] He's a threat to our very way of life and our values. I mean, he's a vegan who thinks God is non-binary.

CABRERA: Mark, if that's a preview of Paxton's strategy against Talarico, how viable is that type of attack strategy?

MCKINNON: It seems like pretty weak sauce to me. I mean, first of all, he's not a vegan, but if that's their attack, bring it on again. Again, I think the thing about Talarico, you really need to watch him watch his speech. He's really got a different approach, a different framing of issues. He talks about values in a way that's really compelling. And he talks about citizenship. And it's just such a complete, polar opposite from Ken Paxton. I mean, this is really going to be a good versus evil kind of framing and race and people, I think, listen, I know Republicans in Dallas, for example, in that '18 race who wanted to vote for Beto because they didn't like Cruz, but at the end, they just couldn't do it. But I just talked to them this morning and they said there's no way they're going to vote for Paxton.

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