Robert Jeffress escalated his attack on James Talarico in a Sept. 30 podcast conversation with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick.
Jeffress, pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, said Talarico, Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate from Texas, “is not a Christian” and is “evil.”
This was the strongest attack on Talarico’s Christian faith, following other harsh assessments from Jeffress in recent weeks. On Sept. 18, Jeffress went on Fox News and said Talarico’s beliefs “disqualify him from being a Christian.”
Jeffress, who is a regular Fox News contributor and staunch ally of President Donald Trump, told Patrick he is neither a Democrat nor a Republican but is an “independent Christian who votes according to biblical convictions.”
Screencap of Robert Jeffress from “Lt. Dan” podcast
However, Jeffress said, he would “give some free advice to the Republican Party. You need to get those views of James Talarico out in the open so people can know what this guy believes. And I believe when the vast majority of Texans understand what he believes or doesn’t believe, especially evangelical Christians who are so numerous in Texas, I don’t think he has a chance of winning.”
Jeffress called Talarico a “false teacher” who needs to be stopped.
This conversation happened on Patrick’s podcast called “Lt. Dan” which has 86,000 subscribers. Patrick is a far-right Republican who also is running for reelection this year. His Democratic opponent is state Rep. Vikki Goodwin of Austin, who is polling slightly ahead of the three-term lieutenant governor.
Talarico, meanwhile, is consistently polling ahead of Paxton in the U.S. Senate race, with observers calling Paxton the most corrupt politician in the nation. Paxton’s ex-wife, state Rep. Angela Paxton, filed for divorce on what she called “biblical grounds,” amid his well-documented affairs. However, in a recent speech to Republican women, she urged them to vote for her ex-husband to ensure Republicans stay in control.
Ken Paxton, Dan Patrick and Gov. Greg Abbott are part of a tightly controlled Republican leadership group that has held sway over Texas for 12 years. Patrick also recently led Trump’s controversial Religious Liberty Commission.
On last week’s podcast, Patrick agreed with Jeffress that Talarico must be stopped from winning the U.S. Senate seat: “I don’t know where he’s getting his teaching from, but it’s not from any Bible that I’ve ever read.”
Jeffress repeated many of the same accusations he and other conservatives have made against Talarico:
- He said Talarico’s acceptance of a gender spectrum conflicts with the Bible’s teaching that God created humanity male and female.
- He argued Talarico’s position on abortion does not protect unborn life.
- He objected to Talarico’s belief that people can find God through different religious traditions.
While asserting “no party has a monopoly on morality,” Jeffress called the Democratic Party “evil.” He made no reference to the Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress, immigration policies, family separations, cutting food and health aid or Trump’s comparison of himself to Jesus.
“There are good Republicans, moral Republicans, and immoral Republicans,” Jeffress said. “The same way with Democrats. No party has a monopoly on morality. We’re all sinners. We all need the forgiveness of Jesus Christ. But it’s one thing for a person to fall into sin and then repent and turn away from that sin. That happens on both parties. There’s a difference though between falling into sin and advocating for sin. And that’s what the Democrat party is doing. It is advocating for evil. And there’s no other way to call it. It is evil.
“To teach that there are a multitude of genders and advocate gender surgery for confused children, that is evil. To sanction the murder of children in the womb, whether it’s through a scalpel or through a drug, that is evil. To deny that Israel has a right to defend itself against those who would come in and torture babies and tie families together and burn them alive, that is evil. And to teach that Jesus, as one candidate for Texan senators said, that Jesus is nothing more than a barefooted rabbi who munches bird seed and says nice things to people, to reduce the son of God to that is evil. And we have to take a stand against evil. And that’s what I see going on in this upcoming election.”
Related:
Robert Jeffress, apostate | Opinion by Mara Richards Bim
Jeffress goes after Talarico again on national TV
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Jeffress has no authority to question Talarico’s faith | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy
The arrogance of Jeffress’ claims about James Talarico | Opinion by Rodney Kennedy