On September 9, James Talarico went on Fox News and told voters he would "absolutely" support a national ban on gender-transition surgeries for minors. "Every sport has to be safe and fair," the Texas Democratic Senate nominee said. "And so, I will oppose trans athletes playing in girls' sports if it risks safety or fairness."
Four days later, on September 13, a Daily Wire undercover camera was rolling at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston.
"Always," Talarico told the person recording. "The way I fought for trans kids in the legislature is how I will fight for them in the U.S. Senate. And my position hasn't changed."
His position hadn't changed. He'd just told Fox News viewers the opposite of it.
The undercover footage captures Talarico in a setting where he apparently believed the audience was friendly and the cameras were off. He wasn't hedging. He wasn't using careful Senate-candidate language. He was making a promise: the fight for transgender procedures for children would continue from his Senate seat, the same way it ran through his time in the Texas legislature.
That legislative record is specific. Talarico voted against Senate Bill 14 in 2023, the Texas law restricting gender-transition procedures for minors. He voted against Senate Bill 29 in 2021, which would have required school athletes to compete according to their birth certificate sex. Those weren't close calls or procedural votes. They were the defining cultural battles of the Texas legislature, and Talarico picked his side clearly.
Then he went on national television and pretended he'd picked the other one.
The video gets worse when you hear from the people around him. Jennifer Miranda, a manager with Texas Together and the Texas Democratic Party, explained the strategy plainly: "Right now he's trying to target a wider net, which unfortunately means being more palatable to Republicans here in Texas. He does believe the things that he's said before."
Not the things he said on Fox News. The things he said before — the trans kids fight, the votes against SB 14 and SB 29, the position that "hasn't changed." Miranda didn't treat the Fox News interview as Talarico's real view. She treated it as a costume.
Even his own pastor, Rev. Babs Miller, predicted Talarico would revert to his previous positions after winning the election. His church community apparently understands the Fox News version of James Talarico is a character he plays during campaign season.
Madison Cercy, spokeswoman for Republican opponent Ken Paxton's campaign, summarized it: "James Talarico can't outrun his own radical record, and this bombshell video proves it."
Talarico also addressed transgender athletes in the undercover footage, framing his stance as the most progressive available: "I still think these should be local decisions, sport by sport, athlete by athlete, and I think I have the most inclusive policy of any candidate who's running."
The most inclusive policy of any candidate running. That was September 13. On September 9, he was the candidate who'd "absolutely" back a national ban on transition surgeries for kids.
Texas voters now have two versions of James Talarico on the record, four days apart. One was performing for a Fox News audience he needed. The other was promising a church audience he trusted. His own campaign staff said which one was real.