THE DAILY CALLER NEWS FOUNDATION—Democrat Texas state Rep. James Talarico said that he loved transgender children when asked to name something he loved other than family and friends during a May 11, 2023, episode of “A Superbloom Podcast.”
Talarico has a long record of pushing his left-wing agenda on schools, including opposing restrictions on child sex-change operations. During the podcast, Talarico referenced a specific group of transgender children whom he called an “inspiration” in a clip unearthed by The Daily Wire on Monday.
“I love—I’m just going to say this because it’s on my mind—the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state Capitol to advocate for their humanity,” Talarico said. “They shouldn’t have to, but it was an inspiration to watch.”
Talarico explained what he was referring to earlier on during the podcast.
“We were going to debate a bill that would deny trans children life-saving health care, and ultimately we didn’t get to the bill because Democrats called a point of order and were able to delay the bill a few days,” he said. “But we had trans activists, trans children, trans parents of trans children in the gallery, and they also launched their own peaceful protest and were removed from the gallery. And in fact, there’s video of one of the law enforcement officers violently throwing down one of those trans activists outside the House chamber.”
Talarico appeared to be referencing a Texas bill that bars minors from accessing hormone therapies, puberty blockers, and transition surgeries, which was ultimately signed into law by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott the following month.
When lawmakers brought the bill up for debate on the House floor on May 2, 2023, advocates promptly started to chant, according to KERA News. Republican Texas state House Speaker Dade Phelan subsequently directed state police to remove visitors.
State police kicked protesters out of the Capitol, according to The Texas Tribune. Certain protesters declined to leave voluntarily, and there were altercations with police before they were evicted, according to CBS Austin.
Talarico, a former public school teacher who presently attends a Presbyterian seminary, defeated Democrat Texas Rep. Jasmine Crockett in Tuesday’s primary. He has also espoused outlandish rhetoric about the Bible and God on multiple occasions during his political career, such as arguing that the Bible justified abortion.
“In committee, I listened to 15 hours of testimony about this bill. The worst part, for me, was the number of Christians who used scripture to justify hurting children. Even on this floor today, a member tried to justify a hateful amendment in the name of God’s law,” Talarico claimed during a 2021 debate in the state Legislature on legislation to prevent child sex-change procedures.
Republican Texas state Rep. Steve Toth called Talarico “evil” and said he was proof of “a demonic presence in the world” during a Wednesday interview on “The Charlie Kirk Show.”
“When I put forth legislation to end the social transition of children, it gets killed by the Democrats,” Toth said. “It’s evil. Talarico is part of that group. I served with James Talarico from 2019 through to today. This guy is as evil as they come.”
Originally published by the Daily Caller News Foundation