Texas State Representative James Talarico (D) said that Christians are more likely to worship Donald Trump than Jesus during an appearance on MSNBC.
“Too many Christians have forgotten all about Jesus and now worship at the feet of Donald Trump – a business cheat, a pathological liar, a serial adulterer, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist,” Talarico said. “I guess it’s ‘hate the sin, elect the sinner.'”
“That seems to be the new motto of too many Christians in this country.”
Talarico said he often asks himself, “What would Jesus do?”
He explained, “What would Jesus do about a tax system that benefits the rich over the poor? What would Jesus do about a healthcare system that forces the sick to start GoFundMe pages to afford life-saving surgeries? What would Jesus do about an education system that ties a child’s school funding to their community’s property wealth?”
“These are the questions that we Christians should be asking ourselves when we walk into that voting booth this November,” Talarico asserted, adding that his “faith leads [him] to support Vice President Harris and Governor Walz in this election out of love for [his] neighbors.”
Conservative podcast host Jason Kelly condemned Talarico’s statement, writing on X, “Never let the communist use your values against you.”
“Christians are the most susceptible to these tactics,” he wrote. “But like Lucifer quoting scripture to Jesus himself, you should reject it outright. Because you know the evil plans he has for you.”
Talarico previously accused Christian nationalists of betraying Jesus, calling “Christian nationalism” a “worship of power.”
“Let me be clear, there is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism,” Talarico said in March. “It is the worship of power — political power, social power, economic power in the name of Christ, and it is a betrayal of Jesus of Nazareth,” he said. “Jesus never asked us to kill police officers. Jesus never asked us to ban books, silence teachers or defund schools. Jesus never asked us to control women’s bodies. Jesus never asked us to establish a Christian theocracy.”
“All he asked was that we love thy neighbor. Not just our Christian neighbors, not just our straight neighbors, not just our male neighbors, not just our white neighbors, not just our rich neighbors,” the Democrat noted. “We are called to love all of our neighbors, and that is exactly the opposite of what Christian nationalism does in the world.”
