Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful
Remarks by Rev. Babs Miller at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church were captured on hidden camera.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful
Photograph: TrendingPolitics (embedded from source)
What this story says
- Rev. Babs Miller, a minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, said some members wish the 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump had been more successful.
- Miller also stated that most congregants identify as agnostic or atheist, not Christian.
- The remarks were captured on a hidden camera by Townhall Media and concern Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump in the ear during the 2024 incident.
- James Talarico, a Democratic Party Senate candidate, is a longtime congregant at St. Andrew’s.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 8 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
59/100
Hype
68/100
8 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 8 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
This story is still being watched, so it is a count and not yet a finding. Coverage keeps arriving for hours after an event, and a side that has published nothing this morning may publish by tonight. If it is still true when we stop checking, we will say so plainly.
Rev. Babs Miller, a minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, stated that some congregants wished the young man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump had been more successful. Miller also indicated that most congregants do not truly believe in Christian teachings, with the majority identifying as agnostic or atheist if polled. The remarks were captured in a hidden camera report by Townhall Media and refer to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. James Talarico, a Democratic Party Senate candidate, is a longtime congregant of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church. The church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) and Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby has served as pastor for over 35 years.
Disagreement on minister's identity
The Gateway Pundit identified the speaker as the "female pastor" at James Talarico's church. TrendingPolitics identified the speaker as Rev. Babs Miller, "one of the ministers" at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, and stated Miller was ordained there in 2014. WND and WND News Center referred to Miller as Talarico's "parish minister."
What the coverage left out
None of the right-rated reports mention that Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby has served as pastor for over 35 years, or that the church is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The reports also do not mention that Miller was ordained in 2014 or that she has been part of the St. Andrew's community since the mid-1990s.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 5 times, most recently on 9 Sept 2026, 22:30, and will add the sides that appear.
How other outlets pictured it
Which photograph to run is each newsroom’s own choice. The leaning beside a name is that outlet’s published rating, not a claim that the pictures divide along it. Every picture is shown from the outlet’s own server and links to the article it ran in.
Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful
The Gateway Pundit — embedded from source
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Centre
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated centre has run this story so far. We are still checking, and will say plainly if that does not change.
Right
8 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports focused on the remarks made by Rev. Babs Miller, a minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, concerning the assassination attempt on Donald Trump. The reports highlighted Miller's statement that some congregants wished the shooter, Thomas Matthew Crooks, had been more successful than just nicking Trump's ear. Several outlets, including The Gateway Pundit and TrendingPolitics, quoted Miller saying, "We still have people in this church who wish that the young man had not just nicked his ear, but had been more successful." The reports also emphasised Miller's claim that the majority of congregants are agnostic or atheist. The Gateway Pundit drew a comparison to Reverend Jeremiah Wright and suggested Democrats frequently belong to such churches. TrendingPolitics noted that James Talarico, a Democratic Senate candidate and congregant, had not issued a public response to Miller's comments as of the report's publication. The Horn News stated Talarico was "caught in a nasty undercover video inside church."
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful?
- Of the 8 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 0% are rated centre, 100% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 8 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful biased?
- Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful is one event reported by 8 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered Minister says some congregants wished Trump assassin more successful?
- 8 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What did the minister say about congregants' wishes regarding the Trump assassination attempt?
- Rev. Babs Miller, a minister at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, stated that some congregants wished the young man who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump had been more successful. The remarks were captured on a hidden camera by Townhall Media and refer to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who shot Trump in the ear in 2024.
- What did the minister say about the congregants' religious beliefs?
- Rev. Babs Miller indicated that most congregants at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church do not truly believe in Christian teachings. She stated that if polled, the majority would identify as agnostic or atheist rather than Christian.
- Who is James Talarico?
- James Talarico is a Democratic Party Senate candidate and a longtime congregant of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. He has cited the church and its pastor, Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby, as formative influences on his faith and political outlook.
Read it at the source
8 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Right
8- Reverend's Remarks Undermine Talarico's Christian Image (opens News Addicts in a new tab)
News Addicts — is News Addicts biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Talarico's 'Christian' Persona Takes Major Hit As His Pastor's Comments Are Unearthed (opens TrendingPolitics in a new tab)
TrendingPolitics — is TrendingPolitics biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Talarico’s ‘parish minister’ says congregation wishes Trump would-be assassin had been ‘more successful’ * WND News Center (opens wndnewscenter.org in a new tab)
wndnewscenter.org — is wndnewscenter.org biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Talarico’s ‘parish minister’ says congregation wishes Trump would-be assassin had been ‘more successful’ * WorldNetDaily * by WND Staff (opens WND in a new tab)
- James Talarico caught in nasty undercover video inside church –... (opens thehornnews.com in a new tab)
thehornnews.com — is thehornnews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- James Talarico’s Pastor: People in This Church Wish Trump’s Assassin ‘Had Been More Successful’ (opens Twitchy in a new tab)
- SICK PEOPLE: Pastor at James Talarico’s Church Says Members Wish Trump Shooter in Butler, PA ‘Had Been More Successful’ * The Gateway Pundit * by Mike LaChance (opens The Gateway Pundit in a new tab)
The Gateway Pundit — is The Gateway Pundit biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Meet James Talarico’s Pastor Problem — His Minister Says Members Wish Trump’s Assassin Had Succeeded (opens RedState in a new tab)
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
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