Latest news with #TenCommandments
The Hill
10 hours ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Joe Rogan urges Texas Democrat to run for president
Podcast host Joe Rogan offered high praise for state Rep. James Talarico (D) on his podcast Friday, telling the Texas lawmaker that he should launch a White House bid. 'You need to run for president. We need someone who is actually a good person,' Rogan said at the end of a multi-hour interview. Talarico, who has been in office since 2018, has been considered a rising star by some for his Christian faith and popular TikTok account where he pushes back on Texas GOP policy on education and public schools. Appearing on Rogan's podcast is a coveted opportunity for politicians, notably for Democrats looking to recapture the young, male audience the party feels it has lost. Talarico is considering a dark-horse bid for Senate in a crowded Democratic primary that includes former Rep. Colin Allred (D-Texas). He laughed after Rogan told him to run for president and pushed back on the host's suggestion. 'We were talking about how politics has become a religion. This is one of the ways it does. People put all their faith in a politician,' Talarico said. 'I've seen it with Bernie. I like Bernie a whole lot, but some people treat him as if he's a messianic figure,' the Texas lawmaker added. 'And Trump on the right, people treat him as a messiah in some ways. This is a problem.' Talarico told Politico that the invitation from Rogan came after the popular podcast host saw one of his videos on TikTok, where he has almost one million followers. In increasingly viral videos, Talarico has railed against a Texas bill to require schools to display the Ten Commandments and panned a new bill on private school vouchers. He is currently studying to become a pastor.
Politico
16 hours ago
- Politics
- Politico
Joe Rogan's Latest Guest Might Turn Texas Blue
The hottest interview a politician can land these days is, obviously, on Joe Rogan's podcast. But for James Talarico, it fell in his lap — and couldn't come at a better time. The Democratic Texas state representative may not yet be a household name nationally but he is weighing a dark horse bid for the U.S. Senate, and the appearance on Rogan's show released Friday can only boost his cred as a rising star for a party desperate to connect with young men and other disaffected voters. At one point, Rogan told him, 'James Talarico, you need to run for president.' In an interview with POLITICO Magazine, Talarico discussed what it was like to go on Rogan's show and why he thinks the podcaster who endorsed Donald Trump in 2024 is still up for grabs for Democrats going forward. 'He speaks for a lot of people who don't feel like they belong in either political party, and are rightly suspicious of a corrupt political system,' Talarico said. The 36-year-old Talarico is not your average Democratic politician; he's an aspiring preacher who studies at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and has gained nearly 1 million followers on TikTok by publishing videos that frequently center on the intersection of his Christian faith and politics. And that's how Rogan found him. Rogan invited Talarico on the podcast after seeing one of his viral videos explaining his opposition to posting the Ten Commandments in public schools. As he was leaving Rogan's Austin, Texas-area studio, he talked about how his party could win over more white Evangelicals, what national Democrats get wrong about Texas and how the party could win the state in 2026 and beyond. This conversation has been edited for length and clarity. What's it like to sit down with Joe Rogan for three hours? Take us into his studio, the moments before and after you record. When we got the email invitation, I originally thought it was a phishing scam. But we called them and realized it was legit, and it was a surprise — just given that I'm a state rep. — to get invited on such a big national platform. He said he had seen some of my videos and wanted to talk. So we jumped at the opportunity. I didn't know what topics he wanted to cover. Really had no specifics beyond that first email. I was kind of going in blind. He and his team are very unassuming. You wouldn't know you were walking into the biggest podcast in the world from their kind of humble setup. They were just very genuine and very, very chill. He said it was a comedian friend who had come across me on social media and told Joe he should listen to me. And so Joe went back and watched some of the videos, and that's where the invitation came from. Rogan in recent weeks has aired some confusion, surprise and even grievance with Trump over some of the administration's early moves: He has called Trump's feud with Canada stupid and called some of Trump's sweeping deportations 'horrific.' Do you get the sense Rogan is a winnable quantity for Democrats ahead of 2026 and 2028? After sitting with him for two and a half hours, I have a clearer understanding of where he's coming from on a lot of this stuff. I just got the overwhelming impression that Joe Rogan is not loyal to either political party, and is deeply skeptical of our political system as a whole. I think that skepticism also applies to Donald Trump, just like it did to Joe Biden last year. I got the impression the reason Joe Rogan has the most popular podcast in the country is because he speaks for a lot of people who don't feel like they belong in either political party, and are rightly suspicious of a corrupt political system. Part of my nerves going in was coming on as an elected official, but I think I was able to shed some light on why the system is broken, at least at the state level, and why it's not working for people — and possible solutions for how to change it. What would you say to your fellow Democrats who are wary of Rogan's influence and the idea that the party should court him or that people like you should go on his show? I think regardless of what people feel about Joe Rogan — or any media figure — we as elected officials, at the very minimum, should have respect for his listeners and take the time to speak to them directly and honestly. I find what Joe Rogan is doing to be refreshing. The fact that he has these longform conversations with people from very different political backgrounds; the fact that he had Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders in the same chair and had long, thorough conversations with both of them; people actually trying to understand each other is a lot healthier than cable news networks or the algorithmic social media that we're all stuck in. I think what Joe Rogan is doing is maybe how we can fix this democracy. If we actually sat down and listened to each other and loved our enemies: That, I think, is the way out of all this. He was eager to talk about the religious content of your videos. How did you approach that? I would say the conversation was probably equal parts politics and faith. And so we talked a lot about spirituality, about the spiritual crisis in this country, particularly among young people, which is something I care a lot about, [and] is something he cares a lot about. It was a wide-ranging conversation that wasn't limited to policy and politics, although there was plenty of that too. That's also why people are attracted to his show: He kind of moves between these topics in a very natural and fluid way. Whereas if you get booked on a traditional news network, you're given your topic that you can talk about for five minutes, and then you're off. In this format, he's pursuing whatever he's interested in. You are a seminary student when you're not politicking. Do you think Democrats are a party that can ever win over more white evangelicals in 2028 when Trump is not on the ballot? I do. I absolutely think we can do that. It's going to require some changes in our party before we're able to expand our coalition and build a bigger tent. What changes? I think we need to start listening to Democrats who are in red and purple areas. There is something about living in a red state that makes you different from a national Democrat who lives in a blue city on the coast. I think we learn how to talk with people outside of our party in a more effective way, because it's a matter of political survival out here. I can't pass anything in the Texas Legislature without getting Republican support, so I've had to find ways to build relationships and build bridges across partisan divides as a Texas Democrat. So that's one. Two I think is generational. I really do think that we need a new generation of leaders in this party to step up and take the reins. All due respect to our more senior members and their wisdom and their experience, that's helpful and valuable, but at a certain point you've got to let fresh faces take over. I just think millennials and Gen Z, especially, even elected officials within my generation, are just more open to going into these kinds of spaces and having these more open conversations that aren't scripted, that aren't controlled by consultants. And it's another reason why we need that generational shift in the party. Do you think Chuck Schumer is the right person to lead Senate Democrats during Trump 2.0? Part of why some people have been asking me to look at the Senate race is because I am very, very disconnected from Washington, D.C., and and I've never worked there, never served there, have not spent much time there in my life, and so I'm not even up to date on the the D.C. drama between these different factions of the party. All I know is what Republican extremism has done in red states like Texas. And I feel that we have a moral imperative to win, and that is my primary focus and anyone and everyone who wants to help us do that is going to be welcome in my mind. Colin Allred has announced his candidacy for Senate, and other Democrats like Beto O'Rourke and Joaquin Castro are mulling it. Are you going to jump in, and have you talked with other potential candidates about who should run? I haven't made a decision yet, but I am seriously considering it. Politics is all about timing, and you just walked into a perfectly timed opportunity in this Rogan podcast — in terms of scoring eyeballs and, perhaps, a national network of small-dollar donors. Does the timing here make you more or less likely to run? It's not the biggest factor in my decision. The decision to run for statewide office, especially in a state as big as Texas, that's not just a political or career decision, that's a life decision. That's where my mind is — not really about the political opportunity and more about: Is this the right fit for me given where I am in my life right now. What advice would you give to fellow Democrats who are trying to connect with the audience that you just connected with on the Rogan show? I want to think it requires courage — because going into a two-and-a-half hour conversation that is unscripted, uncontrolled, with someone who doesn't share all of your political views, I mean, that is a scary situation for anyone to be in, especially to talk about politics and religion. Being a little fearless and being able to get outside of your consultant staff bubble, and getting out of these tightly controlled environments, and going into places that are maybe a little unfriendly, a little less predictable — that kind of risk-taking is necessary. Trying to script everything and control everything is just not going to cut it in 2025 or 2026. If you do run, how will you distinguish yourself from Allred and other contenders? Is there enough room for you? I would only run if I felt like I have something unique to offer the party and, more importantly, the state. And so yes, I would hope that if I did this, it would be because I have something different to say and something different to provide to voters in the primary. If we're going to put up someone against Ken Paxton, you've got to have a nominee who can reach people where they're at and and move them to change the politics of the state. Sen. John Cornyn, the incumbent, is running, too. But part of the bet Democrats weighing a Senate bid in Texas are making is that Paxton is going to be the nominee, prevailing over Cornyn in the primary. What would a matchup with Paxton, who was impeached by the Texas House by you and your GOP colleagues, look like? You mentioned that some folks see this as an opportunity. I think a lot of us see this as a threat. The fact that Ken Paxton, the most corrupt politician in the state of Texas, could be our next U.S. senator, is terrifying for a lot of us who have seen him up close and seen the way he abuses his power and enriches his friends at the expense of the public. I've seen firsthand the damage he's done as attorney general, and I can't imagine what he could do with the office of U.S. senator. But I do want to say that this can't be just about Ken Paxton as a person and as a corrupt political figure. It also needs to be about what Ken Paxton represents. And in my mind, as someone who has watched Ken Paxton up close, who was a part of the impeachment, Ken Paxton represents everything that is wrong with our political system — the corruption, the extremism, the cruelty. And I think in this race, we have an opportunity to prosecute the case, not just against Ken Paxton the man, but Ken Paxton as the symbol for everything that's wrong with politics today. That, to me, is an exciting opportunity, because I do really feel that that people, regardless of where they are on the political spectrum, are just sick and disgusted with how politics feels, that it tears apart families and friendships, the fact that elected officials seem to change once they get power, and they seem to only enrich themselves and their megadonors. It sounds like you're making a pretty good case to yourself about why you should run. I'm making a case of why Ken Paxton shouldn't be the next U.S. senator from Texas. If you had to predict, when do you think Texas goes blue in a presidential year? 2028, 2032, or beyond? In a presidential year? I mean, I think Texas can go blue in 2026. I think it's possible in 2028, too. Donald Trump won this state by only five points in his first reelection when he was an incumbent. He won by more when he was not an incumbent, but when he's in office, Texans typically are not happy with what they see. That was true in 2018, when Beto O'Rourke came within two and a half points of beating Ted Cruz. And it was true in 2020 when Joe Biden came within five points of winning Texas, which I think people forget. I think the recent data suggests that Texans across the spectrum are deeply dissatisfied with what they've seen so far from the Trump administration — even if some of them had high hopes for what he may be able to do and he may be able to shake up. I don't think those hopes have been realized among Texans. What do national Democrats and pundits get wrong about Texas? Oftentimes national Democrats come here to fundraise, and then they don't spend a penny of that money in our state. I think Texas Democrats are kind of fed up with how national Democrats have treated our state. I think the biggest disconnect is a willingness to fight. Texas Democrats, whether it was LBJ and the Great Society, Barbara Jordan, Ann Richards, even Beto O'Rourke and Wendy Davis more recently — all of them have shown that they can use every tool in the toolbox to fight for the people that we represent and stand up to bullies. That I feel like is what Texas Democrats have been known for throughout our history — this fighting spirit. I think the national party could benefit a lot from adopting some of what we do here in Texas: how we can fight for people even when we're a deep minority. We've shown people that we can be scrappy and use every tool at our disposal to make progress for people. And I think that's what folks around the country are desperate for from either political party right now.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Joe Rogan Tells Texas Dem He Should Run for President
Joe Rogan has thrown his weight behind many different politicians throughout his career, but a suggestion made in the most recent episode of his podcast shows the host is still capable of surprising people. In an interview with Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico on The Joe Rogan Experience, Rogan told Talarico that he should consider running for president. During a conversation about whether Americans have lost faith in the future of the country, Talarico argued that Americans should keep having faith in their ability to make change. 'That's because you need to run for president,' Rogan said in response. 'We need someone who's actually a good person.' While at 36 years old, Talarico is technically old enough to occupy the Oval Office, he appears to have his sights set on the Texas state senate instead. The clip of the exchange, as well as other parts of Friday's two-hour-long interview, were shared widely on social media, including by Democratic media personalities like podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen and influencer Harry Sisson. Talarico is a pastor, former teacher, and current state legislator who represents a district in central Texas. Politico has described him as 'the next big thing in Texas politics.' Rogan was reportedly motivated to invite the lawmaker on his show when he saw a 2023 viral video of Talarico criticizing a state law that mandated the placement of the Ten Commandments in every Texas public school classroom. The pair discussed the relationship between politics and religion at length, as well as funding for public education, universal basic income, and engaging young voters. Talarico joins a growing group of Democratic politicians who have recently appeared on podcasts with conservative-leaning audiences, including Bernie Sanders (who sat down with Rogan last month), Pete Buttigieg, and Gavin Newsom. Incidentally, it's widely believed that the latter two are seriously mulling a 2028 election run. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
19 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
How a Christian Nationalist Group is Getting the Ten Commandments into Classrooms
School (in)Security is our biweekly briefing on the latest school safety news, vetted by Mark Keierleber. Subscribe here. As far-right political operative David Barton leads a Christian nationalist crusade, he's traveled to state capitols across the country this year to support dozens of bills requiring Ten Commandments displays in classrooms. My latest story digs into a well-coordinated and deep-pocketed campaign to inject Protestant Christianity into public schools that could carry broader implications for students' First Amendment rights. Through a data analysis of 28 bills that have cropped up across 18 states this year, I show how Barton's role runs far deeper than just being their primary pitchman. The analysis reveals how the language, structure and requirements of these bills nationwide are inherently identical. Time and again, state legislation took language verbatim from a Barton-led lobbying blitz to reshape the nation's laws around claims — routinely debunked — about Christianity's role in the country's founding and its early public education system. Three new state laws in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas mandating Ten Commandments posters in public schools are designed to challenge a 1980 Supreme Court ruling against such government-required displays in classrooms. GOP state lawmakers embracing these laws have expressed support for eradicating the separation of church and state — a pursuit critics fear will coerce students and take away their own religious freedom. Click here to read the story In the news Updates to Trump's immigration crackdown: Immigration and Customs Enforcement has released from custody a 6-year-old boy with leukemia more than a month after he and his family were sent to a rural Texas detention center. | Slate As the Department of Homeland Security conducts what it calls wellness checks on unaccompanied minors, the young people who migrated to the U.S. without their parents 'are just terrified.' | Bloomberg 'It looks barbaric': Video footage purportedly shows some two dozen children in federal immigration custody handcuffed and shackled in a Los Angeles parking garage. | Santa Cruz Sentinel The Department of Homeland Security is investigating surveillance camera footage purportedly showing federal immigration officers urinating on the grounds of a Pico Rivera, California, high school in broad daylight. | CBS News California sued the Trump administration after it withheld some $121 million in education funds for a program designed to help the children of migrant farmworkers catch up academically. | EdSource Undocumented children will be banned from enrolling in federally funded Head Start preschools, the Trump administration announced. | The Washington Post Legal pushback: Parents, Head Start providers challenge new rule barring undocumented families. | The 74 The executive director of Camp Mystic in Texas didn't begin evacuations for more than an hour after he received a severe flood warning from the National Weather Service. The ensuing tragedy killed 27 counselors and campers. | The Washington PostThe day after the Supreme Court allowed the Education Department's dismantling, Secretary Linda McMahon went ahead with plans to move key programs. | The 74 Now, with fewer staff, the Office for Civil Rights is pursuing a smaller caseload. During a three-month period between March and June, the agency dismissed 3,424 civil rights complaints. | Politico Get the most critical news and information about students' rights, safety and well-being delivered straight to your inbox. Massachusetts legislation seeks to ban anyone under the age of 18 from working in the state's seafood processing facilities after an investigation exposed the factories routinely employed migrant youth in unsafe conditions. | The Public's RadioAn end to a deadly trend: School shootings decreased 22% during the 2024-25 school year compared to a year earlier after reaching all-time highs for three years in a row. | K-12 DiveFlorida is the first state to require all high school student athletes to undergo electrocardiograms in a bid to detect heart conditions. | WUSF The Senate dropped rules from Trump's 'big, beautiful' tax-and-spending bill that would have prevented states from regulating artificial intelligence tools, including those used in schools. | The Verge Food stamps are another matter: The federal SNAP program will be cut by about a fifth over the next decade, taking away at least some nutrition benefits from at least 800,000 low-income children. | The 74 ICYMI @The74 Supreme Court to Address Legality of Barring Trans Athletes From School Sports Medicaid Cuts in Trump Tax Bill Spark Fears for Child Health, School Services Heinous, heartbreaking — and expensive. California schools face avalanche of sex abuse claims Emotional Support 74 editor Nicole Ridgway's dog Mika is cooler than your dog. Solve the daily Crossword
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Politics
- Newsweek
Supreme Court May Soon Consider Overturning 45-Year Precedent
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Concerns emanating from three states' legislative decisions to display the Ten Commandments in public schools has raised questions of whether the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately weigh its hand on the issue at the national level. Why It Matters First Amendment rights and issues of separation of church and state have become front and center after legislatures in the states of Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas passed laws requiring public schools to display the Ten Commandments. Several plaintiffs across the trio of states have brought lawsuits forward challenging laws that passed. In June, seven Arkansas families filed suit against state law signed by Republican Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders and intended to go into effect in public school classrooms and libraries, arguing that constitutional rights were violated. Days later, a panel of three federal appellate judges ruled that Louisiana's similar law pertaining to the Ten Commandments was unconstitutional. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled called the law "plainly unconstitutional." Louisiana Attorney General Liz Murrill disagreed with the ruling, saying she would appeal the decision and possibly take it all the way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press. And then, days after that appellate decision in Louisiana, a group of Dallas, Texas, based families and faith leaders filed federal litigation seeking to block the law in their home state—arguing in part that the public school display of the Ten Commandments "will be forcibly subjected to scriptural dictates, day in and day out," and that its enforcement violates "the fundamental religious-freedom principles that animated the Founding of our nation." As of February 2025, Republicans in at least 15 states introduced similar legislation requiring the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools, according to Stateline. What To Know Christian nationalism Several critics of Republicans' legislative moves to bring religion into public educational spaces expressed wide-ranging concerns to Newsweek, including laws separating church and state, and efforts on behalf of conservatives to install a broader Christian nationalist framework that caused widespread concern emanating from Project 2025. "These Ten Commandments display laws are part of a broader Christian nationalist movement to impose one narrow set of religious beliefs on our nation's public school children," Rachel Laser, president and CEO of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, told Newsweek. "Our country's foundational promise of church-state separation and religious freedom means that families—not politicians—get to decide how and when children engage with religion." The U.S. Supreme Court could rule in future cases involving public schools and the Ten Commandments. The U.S. Supreme Court could rule in future cases involving public schools and the Ten Commandments. Photo-illustration by Newsweek/Getty/Canva American United allied with other groups to sue the three aforementioned states, relying on a 1980 case ruled by the Supreme Court, Stone v. Graham, in which they ruled in an unsigned decision that a Kentucky statute requiring a copy of the Ten Commandments to be hung in every public school classroom violated the establishment clause. "The Christian nationalists behind these laws believe they have allies among the ultra-conservative members of the Supreme Court," Laser said. "But the Supreme Court has always recognized that public school children are a captive, impressionable audience that must be protected from religious coercion. "America's highest court would be thumbing its nose at our founders' intentional promise of religious freedom, not to mention longstanding legal precedent, if it allowed these displays to go forward." Mikey Weinstein, founder and president of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF), told Newsweek that his large civil rights organization "focuses on one thing and one thing only, and that is separation of church and state." MRFF has clients across all U.S. national security agencies, with roughly 95 percent of them being Christian. They have sued different agencies, such as the Air Force Academy and the Department of Veterans Affairs, for purported civil rights violations. He questioned which version of the Ten Commandments lawmakers and other officials in authority even want to display in public buildings. "The point is that the 6-3 majority on the Supreme Court will decide what they want and then try to rationalize it," Weinstein said. "So, it's useless to look at any of the prior cases. I fully expect the Supreme Court will allow this in Arkansas, Louisiana, wherever the hell else it's going to be, red states. "I'm old enough to remember—I was born and raised in Albuquerque, but I'm a military brat—being forced to be in a Christmas play as a little Jewish kid in a public school. ... Christian nationalism is this weaponized version of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that is antithetical in every way to what our Constitution is about. "Our constitutional framers looked at Europe, where most of the bloodshed had happened, there had been when men of the cloth, men in political power—they looked at the Salem Witch Trials, they said, 'We are not going to do that here, so they carved this chasm, this canyon between spiritual and temporal in our basic foundational document. It is "not a small thing" to put the Ten Commandments up in the classroom, he added, wondering why Christianity is paramount in these displays rather than, say, erecting the Code of Hammurabi. Freedom 'For and From' Religion Patrick Elliott, legal director of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, told Newsweek that he's concerned about broader laws nationally considering the number of states that have attempted, unsuccessfully thus far, to mirror laws in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas. He also acknowledged that such a movement could occur a long time from now, as the Court currently has no such case in front of it. "We would oppose, at the Freedom From Religion Foundation, any religion being given favoritism and being posted on the walls of public buildings," Elliott said. "I don't think it's just because it's the Ten Commandments, this biblical scripture that they want. "But I think that it's a way for people who are of the Christian faith to, one, put their territory marking on our public institutions; and two, to coerce other people and to try to influence other people to adopt their beliefs. And that's wrong. That violates the First Amendment." Kevin Bolling, executive director of the Secular Student Alliance, told Newsweek that the contents of Project 2025 outlined for all to see efforts to invoke Christian themes and beliefs in areas of public discourse, including public schools. "This has been a goal of theirs for a long time," Bolling said. "The founding principles of our nation was the separation of church and state, that's a hallmark that we have cherished for a long time and there has been a coordinated effort and a long-going effort by especially conservative Christian forces and organizations to undo that." It's not necessarily about Christianity, or any other religion for that matter, but anything being pushed on Americans that is not legally viable, he added. "Our concern is that the government is not supposed to endorse religion nor support any particular religion, and in this case they are trying to use the government specifically to support one version of one religion over all the others. That is a violation of a basic principle of the founding of our country, and the separation of church and state. "We support people's right to to practice their religion. We often advocate that people deserve that. But the freedom of religion and the freedom from religion are intricately linked in our society, and they depend on each other and they're important. We don't want anyone's version of a particular religion involved in the public square." What People Are Saying Texas Governor Greg Abbott in a new statement: "I will always defend the historical connection between the Ten Commandments and their influence on the history of Texas." Texas Republican Representative Brent Money in May: "We should be encouraging our students to read and study their Bible every day. Our kids in our public schools need prayer, need Bible reading, more now than they ever have." Republican Representative Candy Noble, a co-sponsor of the bill, said when the statewide bill passed the Texas House: "The focus of this bill is to look at what is historically important to our nation educationally and judicially," Heather L. Weaver, a senior staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, after the Louisiana law was blocked in June: "This is a resounding victory for the separation of church and state and public education. With today's ruling, the Fifth Circuit has held Louisiana accountable to a core constitutional promise: Public schools are not Sunday schools, and they must welcome all students, regardless of faith." What Happens Next There is no current case revolving around the display of the Ten Commandments in public schools currently on the Supreme Court docket. Challenges in Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas could result in efforts to bring the issue to the nation's highest court.
