On Friday afternoon, MSNBC host Katy Tur devoted a segment to promoting the latest viral Democrat, Texas state legislator James Talarico, touting his history of arguing against the "far right," and letting him blame Fox News for political divisions in America.
Tur preceded the softball interview by playing a two-year-old clip of Talarico in the state capitol arguing against a bill that would require that the Ten Commandments be posted in every public school in Texas. She soon talked up the Democrat as she filled in her viewers:
The bill is now law, but the video has almost six million views. It along with a number of other videos of Talarico performing measured interrogations of far right proposals have juiced Talarico's national profile -- so much so he caught Joe Rogan's attention where, after a nearly three-hour appearance on his show, Talarico appeared to make a convert out of the influential podcaster.
After playing a clip of podcaster Joe Rogan encouraging Talarico to run for President, Tur brought the Democrat legislator aboard as a guest and immediately brought up the possibility of him running for U.S. Senate in 2026: "Joining us now, Texas State Representative James Talarico. Really good to have you -- thank you for joining us. So what is next for you? Are you running for Senate? You have, according to the Austin American Statesman, 'registered the domain name TalaricoForSenate.com.'"
The Texas Democrat complained about President Donald Trump pushing Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX) to redraw the state's congressional districts during the same special session devoted to recent flooding, leading the MSNBC host to ask why the state's voters keep voting for Republicans who allegedly don't deal with the state's problems:
There have been a lot of weather-related issues in the state of Texas -- partially because the power grid is separate from everybody else, partially because the state doesn't want to recognize climate change and adjust for it. They don't want to spend money on flood prevention methods or just alert methods like the talk about the siren alarm system not getting funds approved even though the city had asked for them over and over again -- the county. And yet, constituents -- voters in Texas vote for these lawmakers over and over again to represent them despite these disasters -- despite the pain form them, the loss of life, the loss of community, the loss of property. How do you explain that?
After Talarico talked up how many voters showed up at some of his recent events, Tur followed up by asking him what Democrats should be doing, leading him to complain about Fox:
I think we've got to be honest with the people of Texas and the American people that this system is corrupt, and it isn't working. It's not working at any level, and we desperately need to remake this broken political system in our own image. And that's going to require not just any one candidate -- it's going to require people coming together and resisting the systems that are dividing us -- the social media algorithms, the cable news networks like Fox News that are, you know, deliberately tearing us apart on a daily, hourly basis. We're going to have to resist that division and see that we have far more in common than the stuff that divides us. ...
Tur went along with his premise that it's the fault of conservative media that many voters do not trust Democrats as she followed up: "How do you break through those algorithms? How do you break through to somebody who's only watching one perspective and believes that the Democrats are trying to destroy the country?"
The MSNBC host soon wrapped up the segment by again talking up the possibility of Talarico running for the Senate.
Transcript follows:
MSNBC's Katy Tur Reports
July 25, 2025
2:37 p.m. Eastern
STATE REPRESENTATIVE JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): (dated May 3, 2023): I say this to you as a fellow Christian. Representative, I know you're a devout Christian as well, and so am I. This bill to me is not only unconstitutional, it's not only un-American -- I think it is also deeply un-Christian. And I say that because I believe this bill is idolatrous, I believe it is exclusionary, and I believe it is arrogant. And those three things, in my reading of the Gospel, are diametrically opposed to the teachings of Jesus. You probably know Matthew 6:5 when Jesus says, "Don't be like the hypocrites who love to pray publicly on street corners. When you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your father who is in secret."
KATY TUR: That was State Representative -- Texas State Representative James Talarico -- a Democrat from Austin and current seminary student during a 2023 hearing for a bill that would mandate putting the Ten Commandments in every public school -- every public school classroom in that state. The bill is now law, but the video has almost six million views. It along with a number of other videos of Talarico performing measured interrogations of far right proposals have juiced Talarico's national profile -- so much so he caught Joe Rogan's attention where, after a nearly three-hour appearance on his show, Talarico appeared to make a convert out of the influential podcaster.
JOE ROGAN: You need to run for President. (laughs) We need someone who's actually a good person.
TUR: Joining us now, Texas State Representative James Talarico. Really good to have you -- thank you for joining us.
STATE REPRESENTATIVE JAMES TALARICO (D-TX): Thanks for having me.
TUR: So what is next for you? Are you running for Senate? You have, according to the Austin American Statesman, "registered the domain name TalaricoForSenate.com."
TALARICO: Well, my focus is on the special legislative session that just got called here in Texas. You know, Donald Trump is trying to rig the next election here in our state by redrawing our political maps, and so this is where my attention is, and I was hired by about 200,000 constituents here in central Texas to do this job. And so this is what I'm going to do, and I'm going to focus my attention here before I start to apply for other jobs. But once this special session is over, I am going to look at the U.S. Senate race and consider how I could best continue my service.
TUR: All right, let's focus on what's happening in the special session right now. It was called for disaster response to take a look at what happened after the floods, and I'm pausing because I had a drink with a friend who lost her niece in the floods, and it's obviously very painful for the families there. How much of the focus has been on the flood response and how to make things better? And how much of the focus has been on the redistricting?
TALARICO: I mean, we're all still mourning the loss of life in the Texas hill country from those catastrophic floods over the Fourth of July weekend, and instead of bringing us here to the state capitol to talk about disaster relief and flood mitigation and emergency management, the governor is using these victims as a cover to play politics -- to do the bidding of Donald Trump who told Governor Abbott to find him five more congressional seats so he can protect his majority in the next election regardless of how we all vote. I mean, this is politics at its worst. This is why people don't believe in this political system of ours because people like Greg Abbott and Donald Trump will just hit rock bottom, using flood victims to try to execute a power grab. And so it's incumbent upon me and my colleagues here in the state to stand up to the governor and to the President and try to do the actual work of helping those victims and preventing a tragedy from ever happening again.
TUR: There have been a lot of weather-related issues in the state of Texas -- partially because the power grid is separate from everybody else, partially because the state doesn't want to recognize climate change and adjust for it. They don't want to spend money on flood prevention methods or just alert methods like the talk about the siren alarm system not getting funds approved even though the city had asked for them over and over again -- the county. And yet, constituents -- voters in Texas vote for these lawmakers over and over again to represent them despite these disasters -- despite the pain form them, the loss of life, the loss of community, the loss of property. How do you explain that?
TALARICO: Well, I do think that's going to change. You know, I held an organizing rally up in Plano, Texas, which is a red part of the state. And it wasn't for any particular candidate or campaign. It was an event designed to register voters -- recruit people to run for office at the local level and organized voters. I thought maybe there would be 100 or maybe even 200 people that would show up because we're pretty far from an election, but more than 1,000 people showed up just a few nights ago -- again, in a red part of the state. So I do think that Texans across the political spectrum are starting to recognize that this system here in our state and at the national level is deeply corrupt and isn't serving the interests of the people. And my only hope is that we're going to be able to organize enough Texans, enough Americans in the months ahead to take power back in November of 2026.
TUR: What do you believe Democrats should be focused on?
TALARICO: Well, you know, I have a pretty simple rubric when it comes to messaging, and that's, "Be yourself and tell the truth," because the truth is the easiest thing to remember in politics, and so I think we've got to be honest with the people of Texas and the American people that this system is corrupt, and it isn't working. It's not working at any level, and we desperately need to remake this broken political system in our own image. And that's going to require not just any one candidate -- it's going to require people coming together and resisting the systems that are dividing us -- the social media algorithms, the cable news networks like Fox News that are, you know, deliberately tearing us apart on a daily, hourly basis. We're going to have to resist that division and see that we have far more in common than the stuff that divides us. And once we do that, I think we're going to be able to take power ----
(cross talk)
TUR: How do you break through, though?
TALARICO: -- back for our ... (inaudible)
TUR: How do you break through those algorithms? How do you break through to somebody who's only watching one perspective and believes that the Democrats are trying to destroy the country?
TALARICO: Well, it's going to require Democrats getting outside of our comfort zone. It's why I went on Joe Rogan's podcast. It's why I've been on Fox News. It's why I've been on the Christian Broadcasting Network. These are not necessarily friendly places for a Democrat, but it's necessary if people are going to hear directly from us about our values and our vision. Politics is about addition, not subtraction. It's easy to stay in your bubble, but we have to break out of those bubbles if we're going to build a big coalition and take power back for the people.
TUR: All right, James Talarico of the Texas legislature. Thank you -- thank you so much for joining us, maybe soon to be James Talarico for Senate dot com. Thanks for being with us. I appreciate it.
