On the campaign trail, Democrat candidate James Talarico often describes his faith as “biblical Christianity.” But the Senate hopeful once credited Islamic mystics with shaping his faith just as much as Christian writers, audio unearthed by The Daily Wire reveals.
In a recent interview with The New York Times, Talarico asserted that his faith was rooted in “biblical Christianity.” During an appearance on The State of Belief podcast in April 2024 alongside Muslim state Rep. Salman Bhojani, Talarico praised Islam for shaping his religious beliefs. Those comments could come into play as debate heats up in Texas about Islam’s growing presence in the state.
“I know personally that I’ve learned as much about my faith from Salman’s tradition, from the Islamic mystics, from poets like Rumi, as much as I have from Christian authors and Christian writers,” he said. “This kind of interfaith dialogue, it doesn’t water down your tradition, in fact it strengthens it, it brings out new flavors and new colors.”
Talarico later quoted the 13th-century Islamic mystic as saying “in every religion there is love, yet love has no religion.”
Talarico, looking to become the first Democrat to win statewide election in Texas in decades, has faced much scrutiny over his leftist version of Christianity and the uber-woke church he attends in Austin. That scrutiny comes as the legacy media speculated that Talarico could sway Christian voters who ordinarily vote Republican.
On the 2024 podcast, Talarico celebrated Bhojani’s election as the “true fruition of multi-racial, multicultural, multi-religious democracy” and “a threat to those who don’t believe in a pluralistic democracy” and “those who are pushing a sectarian exclusive Christian nationalist vision for our country.” He also said that “Texas is proud to be the home of more Muslim Americans than any other state in the union” and that advocating for the Ten Commandments to be displayed in classrooms was “deeply unchristian.”
The creep of Islamic ideology into Texas has been a hot issue over the last few years, with Governor Greg Abbott designating the Council on American-Islamic Relations as a foreign terrorist organization in November 2025. Abbott accused CAIR of attempting to impose Sharia law on the Lone Star State. State officials have also moved to challenge planned Islamic cities, keep schools promoting Sharia law from receiving state dollars, and pushed backs on efforts to brand the Alamo as an “Islamic building.”
Talarico, who describes himself as a “Christian who hates Christianity,” has said he believes God is “nonbinary” and that Jesus was a “radical feminist.” During a recent commencement speech at Paul Quinn College, Talarico appeared indifferent to whether people believed in God or attended church.
“I’m not asking you to join an organized religion. I’m asking you to join something bigger than yourself. Find a spiritual practice that works for you, whether it’s meditation or fasting, gardening, or bird watching, whether it’s in a church, or a temple, or a book club, or a neighborhood group, find a community that can help you touch the ground of your own being.”