Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism in 2023 sermon
Right-rated outlet reports remarks resurfaced by the New York Post ahead of November 2026 election
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism in 2023 sermon
Photograph: 100% FED UP! (embedded from source)
What this story says
- James Talarico, a Texas state representative and Presbyterian seminarian, delivered a 2023 sermon criticising Christian nationalism and institutional faith, as reported by 100PercentFedUp.com.
- Talarico’s remarks, resurfaced by the New York Post, include the statement 'God is not a Christian' and describe Christian nationalism as a movement 'based on mutual hate'.
- The sermon has drawn criticism from conservative commentators ahead of Talarico’s November 2026 U.S. Senate race against Ken Paxton.
- No left- or centre-rated outlets reported on the resurfaced remarks, according to the material supplied.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. Coverage measured .
Trust
30/100
Craft
45/100
Hype
65/100
7 sources · methodology
Thin on the left so far
None of the 7 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.
James Talarico, a Texas state representative and Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, delivered a sermon in 2023 in which he criticised Christian nationalism and institutional Christianity. The remarks were resurfaced by the New York Post and reported by 100PercentFedUp.com in August 2026. Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian, is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the November 2026 election.
In the sermon, Talarico stated that 'God is not a Christian' and described God as 'a verb' rather than a noun. He characterised Christian nationalism as a 'sectarian movement based on mutual hate' and argued that it had co-opted the teachings of Jesus. Talarico cited the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade, efforts to replace public schools with private Christian schools in Texas, and the January 6, 2021, storming of the U.S. Capitol as examples of Christian nationalism’s influence.
100PercentFedUp.com also reported that Talarico made additional remarks in a 2021 podcast interview with Roberto Che Henderson-Espinoza, a theologian who identifies as nonbinary and transgender. In the interview, Talarico described his 'whiteness' and 'masculinity' as limiting his imagination and referred to Jesus as a socialist. The audio was shared by the Republican National Committee’s research arm.
What the coverage left out
None of the left- or centre-rated outlets supplied in the material published any report on Talarico’s 2023 sermon or the resurfaced remarks. The omission is a finding about the reports printed below: no account from those sides is present.
Still developing. We have re-checked which outlets are covering this 4 times, most recently on 20 Aug 2026, 20:01, and will add the sides that appear.
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
1 rated outlet
We have not written our reading of the centre coverage of this story. The centre-rated outlets that ran it are listed below.
Right
6 rated outlets
- 100PercentFedUp.com led its report with Talarico’s criticism of Christian nationalism and his statement that 'God is not a Christian'. The outlet framed Talarico’s remarks as evidence of a disconnect between his campaign trail claims of faith and his theological views. It quoted Talarico’s description of Christian nationalism as a movement 'based on mutual hate' and his assertion that 'sinners will see the kingdom of heaven before religious people do'.
- The report included reactions from conservative commentators on social media. Matthew Newgarden, identified as a commentator, described Talarico as 'an extreme candidate who uses church pulpits to attack traditional faith and promote abortion'. Another commentator, Muad’Dib, called Talarico 'a liberal plant pretending to be something he isn’t'. The outlet also highlighted Talarico’s 2021 podcast remarks, including his reference to Jesus as a socialist and his description of his minister as a 'true white traitor'.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism…?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 14% are rated centre, 86% 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 Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism… left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 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 Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism… biased?
- Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism in 2023 sermon is one event reported by 7 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 Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism…?
- 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 Texas Senate candidate James Talarico criticised Christian nationalism…?
- 7 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 James Talarico say about Christian nationalism?
- In a 2023 sermon, James Talarico described Christian nationalism as a 'sectarian movement based on mutual hate' and argued that it had co-opted the teachings of Jesus. He cited the overturning of Roe v. Wade and the January 6 Capitol storming as examples of its influence, as reported by 100PercentFedUp.com.
- Which outlets reported on Talarico’s sermon?
- Only the right-rated outlet 100PercentFedUp.com reported on Talarico’s 2023 sermon, according to the material supplied. No left- or centre-rated outlets published any account of the resurfaced remarks ahead of the November 2026 election.
- What did Talarico say about God in his sermon?
- Talarico stated that 'God is not a Christian' and described God as 'a verb' rather than a noun. He argued that God is 'love' and that religion can obstruct that love, as quoted by 100PercentFedUp.com from the resurfaced sermon.
Read it at the source
7 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
1Right
6- Talarico Says ‘God Is Not a Christian’ in Unearthed Sermon (opens Texas Scorecard in a new tab)
Texas Scorecard — is Texas Scorecard biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Another Unearthed Talarico ‘Sermon’ Promotes Abortion, Insists ‘God Is Not A Christian’ – 100PercentFedUp.com – by Russell (opens 100% FED UP! in a new tab)
100% FED UP! — is 100% FED UP! biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Texas voters to decide who is James Talarico — a fair-minded Christian or a crunchy left-winger (opens Washington Times in a new tab)
Washington Times — is Washington Times biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico once claimed ‘God is not a Christian’ during 2023 sermon (opens ussanews.com in a new tab)
ussanews.com — is ussanews.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Texas Senate hopeful James Talarico once claimed ‘God is not a Christian,’ defended abortion during 2023 sermon (opens New York Post in a new tab)
New York Post — is New York Post biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Another Unearthed Talarico ‘Sermon’ Promotes Abortion, Insists ‘God Is Not A Christian’ (opens WLTReport in a new tab)
Not rated
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
