In a secretly recorded exchange last month, U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico (D-Texas) reestablished his progressive bona fides after appearing to swerve to the center. During a Fox News exclusive at a campaign stop in Dallas, Talarico made comments that could be interpreted as rethinking his past support for transgender procedures for minors and boys in girls’ sports. However, at a campaign stop in Houston, Talarico told an attendee that he would “always” support transgender-identifying minors and that “my position hasn’t changed.”

The newly released comments undermine the moderate façade Talarico tried to create by telling Fox News he would “absolutely” vote for a national ban on transgender surgery for minors. Talarico tried to spin this as “consistent” with his past record, which included a vote in 2023 against Texas SB 14, which protected minors from surgeries, cross-sex hormones, and puberty blockers. Talarico called the bill “overly broad.”

In 2021, Talarico also voted against SB 29, which made public school athletes compete in sports according to their biological sex. In the interview, Talarico promised Fox News that he would “oppose trans athletes playing in girls’ sports if it risks safety or fairness.”

Such remarks might surprise the casual listener with only a passing awareness of Talarico’s radical past. They are well-calculated to implant the doubt that perhaps he is not as radical as his opponents make him out to be. Yet his most recent remarks reveal that Talarico’s politics are just as radical as ever.

In undercover footage obtained by The Daily Wire, a woman approached Talarico at a campaign stop at Wheeler Avenue Baptist Church in Houston (a historically black Baptist church with beliefs far more orthodox than those of Talarico).

The woman pretended to be a Talarico fan and to have a niece who identified as transgender. “Can I count on you to support her?” she asked. The exchange unfolded as follows:

Talarico: “Always.”

Woman: “She’s not able to participate in sports.”

Talarico: “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. 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. So I know things are getting clipped and stuff, but my views, my position hasn’t changed. And I’m going to have your loved one’s back.”

The way Talarico “fought for trans kids” in the Texas legislature was by opposing any bill to protect children from transgender ideology, to protect girls in sports and restrooms, or even to recognize biology. The way Talarico “fought for trans kids” was by pursuing viral moments through outrageous statements like his claim that “God is non-binary.”

Thus, as The Washington Stand predicted last month, Talarico’s conciliatory Fox News interview did not indicate a change in his views. His promises lacked substance, such as the pledge to ban boys in girls’ sports “if it risks safety or fairness,” a condition Talarico does not believe to be true, since he called the issue a “manufactured problem” in 2021. TWS wrote then that “Talarico’s mind on this issue has not been changed,” and events have borne that out.

Rather than a change in his beliefs, Talarico’s Fox News interview represented a shift in tactics. Shrewd politicians often try to maximize their advantage over their competitors by presenting the most extreme version of their policies in the primary to win over base voters, and then present the most moderate version of themselves in the general election to win over the undecided middle.

Even Talarico’s supporters say that he is pursuing this strategy. Jennifer Miranda, a manager with Texas Together and the Texas Democratic Party, confirmed Talarico “does believe the things that he’s said before.” She suggested, “Right, he’s trying to target a wider net, which unfortunately means being more palatable to Republicans here in Texas.”

Rev. Babs Miller, a lesbian-identifying minister at Talarico’s St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, agreed that the candidate was “playing this game” to win. “I think it’s bad advice personally, but if it helps him win, okay,” Miller added. “I can guarantee you that once he gets elected, he’ll change his tune back to where he was.”