Talarico says he ‘missed the mark’ as he backtracks on controversial woke statements

In a Fox News exclusive interview, Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico came out in favor of banning gender surgery for minors and opposed transgender-identifying men competing in women’s sports.

Talarico also backtracked on several of his more controversial claims, including saying there are six genders and that “God is nonbinary.”

This comes as the Texas Senate race, which is surprisingly close according to recent Fox News polling, enters its final months. The race is considered critical to both parties’ chances of securing a Senate majority. Talarico is facing Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, a Republican who has faced controversies of his own. A Republican loss in Texas would significantly impact President Donald Trump’s ability to implement his agenda.

Fox News spoke with Talarico at a food drive campaign event in Dallas on Tuesday. Talarico’s event took place as the first-ever GOP midterm convention kicked off just miles away in downtown Dallas.

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Asked whether he would vote as a U.S. senator in favor of a national ban on gender surgery for minors, Talarico answered, “Absolutely.”

He said, “I’ve been consistent on this issue,” explaining his opposition to a Texas bill to ban transgender surgeries on minors by saying the measure “was overly broad.”

“If you go back and check, I voted for a major amendment to limit the bill to banning surgeries for minors,” he said. “As a lawmaker, my job is to try to sift through everything the bill does. And sometimes there’s stuff in it that’s really harmful, and I have no choice but to oppose the bill as a whole.”

“It’s why I try to use amendments, to narrow the focus of the bill so that it does exactly what we intend it to do,” he continued. “It’s what I tried to do with that piece of legislation, and unfortunately the amendment I supported was unsuccessful.”

In 2023, as a member of the Texas House of Representatives, Talarico voted against a state bill titled SB 14, which prohibited certain gender surgery, puberty blockers and certain hormone treatments for minors. There were 18 amendments to the bill proposed by Democrats, all of which Talarico voted in favor and all of which ultimately failed.

In the same interview, Talarico acknowledged that men in women’s sports is a significant issue in Texas. He said, “I oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it endangers safety or fairness.”

“Every sport has to be safe and fair. As a former public school teacher, I care a lot about our student athletes. I care a lot about our students. And so, I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness,” he said.

Talarico’s comments mark a shift from his earlier position as a Texas state lawmaker. 

In 2021, while serving on the Texas House Public Education Committee, he opposed SB 29, which sought to require public-school athletes to compete based on the biological sex listed on their birth certificate, calling the issue a “manufactured problem.” Later that year, he voted against HB 25, which enacted similar restrictions into Texas law.

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He also addressed perhaps his most controversial statement, which he made in 2021, while opposing a Texas bill to keep men out of women’s sports. Talarico said on the state House floor that “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.”

“I was being provocative with that statement. I get that,” Talarico admitted, explaining, “What I was trying to say is that you can’t use human categories to define God, and that’s not controversial theologically. In fact, the late Charlie Kirk, the late Pope Benedict all said the same thing.”

Talarico continued, claiming “these comments are being clipped out of context to try to distract from Ken Paxton’s career of corruption.”

“You mentioned [Paxton] being acquitted in the state Senate. That was after two of his billionaire megadonors gave the lieutenant governor a $3 million check to buy his acquittal,” Talarico said. “So, Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas and he’s gonna try to clip some of my comments, including comments where I was being a little provocative in order to try to distract from that career.”

Fox News Digital reached out to the Paxton campaign for a response.

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Regarding his past comment about there being more than two genders, Talarico said he does not currently believe there are six sexes.

“I’ve missed the mark on some of my past statements. I will be the first to admit it,” he said. “What I meant is that there are two sexes, and then there’s a small percentage of people with genetic abnormalities.”

“Obviously didn’t say it correctly. There are not six sexes. There are two, and I think the reason that politicians in that convention center across the street want to talk about six sexes is because they don’t want to talk about $6 diesel,” he said.

Though he walked back these controversies, Talarico did not hold back on his criticism of the Supreme Court, which he described as “infected” with corruption, saying it “needs to be overhauled.”

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He said that if elected, “You’re going to expect that I will vote for overhaul to the Supreme Court. That will include binding codes of conduct for our justices. It’ll include term limits, and I am open to a discussion about expanding the number of justices.”

Following these controversies, Talarico pledged to keep his message focused on affordability for the remainder of the campaign.

“Everywhere I go across the state of Texas, people are struggling to survive in this economy. They are struggling to afford the basics: groceries, gas, utilities, healthcare. And that’s what I’m going to be focused on from now until Election Day.”

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On the topic of affordability, Talarico said that “we should not have a state income tax” in Texas. This is despite Talarico previously voting against a measure to permanently ban a state income tax, which he suggested was redundant and an example of “government waste at its worst.” 

The measure was ultimately passed by the Texas Legislature and approved by Texas voters in November 2019.