The Chris Cuomo Project - MAGA Is About To Run Into Reality

Episode Date: May 28, 2026

Chris Cuomo explains why the Texas Senate race between Ken Paxton and James Talarico may be the clearest test yet of whether MAGA politics are finally colliding with economic reality. Cuomo argues that Republicans are increasingly leaning on culture-war outrage while voters become more focused on affordability, wages, healthcare costs, and economic frustration. He also breaks down why he believes Democrats may have finally found the right kind of anti-MAGA candidate in Talarico — and why Trump’s decision to back Paxton could become a major political liability. Cuomo analyzes the messaging strategies behind both campaigns, Paxton’s ethical baggage, Trump’s influence over the Republican Party, and why he believes this race could become a national bellwether for the 2026 midterms. The episode also explores populism, culture wars, economic inequality, tariffs, Christian politics, the future of Democratic messaging, and why Cuomo believes voters are increasingly exhausted by outrage-driven politics. He argues that the core fight in American politics is no longer left versus right, but “MAGA versus reality” — and says this race may reveal whether Trump-style politics still works outside the Republican base. #news #politics #trump #maga #texas #cuomo Join The Chris Cuomo Project on YouTube for ad-free episodes, early releases, exclusive access to Chris, and more: https://www.youtube.com/@chriscuomo/join Follow and subscribe to The Chris Cuomo Project on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube for new episodes every Tuesday and Thursday: https://linktr.ee/cuomoproject Ready to reach your goals? Visit https://hims.com/CCP to get a personalized, affordable plan that gets you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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Something just happened in Texas. the most corrupt politician in America just became the Republican nominee for the United States Senate. Three years ago, Ken Paxton was impeached by his own party for using his public office to enrich himself and his donors at the expense of the people. That kind of corruption is the rot at the core of this broken system. It's time to come together. The people versus Ken Paxton. This is exactly the fight we need to have. This is exactly the fight with exactly the candidates and exactly the place. Paxton, Tala Rico, in Texas for Senate, is the laboratory for where this country is and what's going to win.

I'm going to take you through the strengths and weaknesses on both sides and why the Democrats should not be shy about this fight. I know you are, but I'm going to explain why I'm not, if I'm thinking about it from your perspective. And I'll tell you why Trump is back in Paxton. And I'll tell you why this guy is still in it. And I'll tell you what the stakes are, all right here on the Chris Cuomo Project.

My opponent is a guy. is the most extreme radical the Democrats have ever nominated. He's even running a vegan campaign, whatever that is. He goes by a few names that you may all have heard of. Some people know him as tofu Talariko. Some people call him six-gender Jimmy. I've even heard some people call him James Telfrico. And others refer to him simply as low-tie Tlerico.

You have already heard the two propositions. Okay. And I'll take you through them and what matters. And what's really interesting, actually, to me, is you saw on that clip of Paxton, how the media covers this is also going to be really important and really important to watch. So let's go through this and let's take our time. Okay. Now, starting with Tala Rico, first, let's just talk about the specific pitches that we saw. The People versus Ken Paxton is brilliant. because the proposition is where is the populist outrage right now?

Populist outrage is where we are. Why, everything in our politics is geared towards populist outrage. Most notably, the algorithm that probably, unless you're a subscriber, which I hope you are, especially with the different options I have and the different offerings we're making now on YouTube specifically, the algorithm that brought me to you is fundamentally, the cause of our discontent, fundamentally, by design, it feeds you provocation, outrage, okay? That's why I'm not in feeds the way people on the left and certainly people on the right are.

You pick aside, you go extreme. That's what our politics is and is becoming more and more. That's why there's more violence. That's why there's more cursing. That's why there's more hot talk. That's why Ken Paxton's entire pitch is James Tala Rico is a bunch of insults. Think about it. Now, Tala RICO, the most corrupt politician in America.

Is that true? No, not compared to Trump, right? But this is Trump's guy. I would have made that connection. I get why Telerico did not. Everything you just heard in James Talariko's clip. and the reason I picked it and the reason I picked the Ken Paxton

clip is everything in them has been massaged for specific messaging. None of it is random. None of it's off the cuff. None of it is, you know, let's just take a flyer. These are tested, measured, desired

messages. So that's why we have to go through them and go through them very carefully. People versus Paxton, good. Most corrupt in America, why? It's an extreme it's an extreme thought. Why? Because it works. The same way Paxton calls him the most radical liberal. No, he isn't.

Tala Rico's not even close to that. And by the way, Paxton knows it. And look, Tala Rico knows that Paxton isn't the most corrupt. He knows that that's a weird thing to say when, you know, there's so much corruption with Trump and all that. But it works because messaging is exaggeration, especially right now. However, the seminal propositions and the reason why I believe this is, This is exactly the fight we need to have. Is that you're going to say, no, not in Texas.

Tala Rico can't win. Okay. But to the idea of nothing changes, if nothing changes, if nothing changes, if things are changing, you're going to see it in places that you don't expect to see it or where you haven't usually seen this kind of change. That's what meaningful change, bellwether change, is about. That's why I believe this is a bellwether election. Why?

What is a bellwether election? I'll tell you exactly what it is. It leads the way as a trailblazer. Where does it come from? It comes from medieval shepherding. A weather, a castrated ram was chosen to lead the flock, and the shepherd would hang a bell around his neck so they could track where the sheep were going.

Why a castrated ram? Because they weren't being let around by their dick. That's why. They were actually just following what made the most sense. for foraging and what the shepherd wanted. That's why. So that's where Bellwether comes from, okay? And forget the castrated part.

But it's that, I think the metaphor holds, here's why. We want leadership in this country that is about making things better. We all know what's wrong. We all know what sucks. We know why. So there is a desire for a little bit of castration in terms of just playing to the problems. Now, this metaphor is qualified. Why?

Because you are outraged. You are pissed off, especially in the center and on the left. And there is no real center. Independence and left-leaning people are really angry right now, more than anybody else. Why? Because you're out of power. And you feel that you have been victimized by this administration and that it's an ongoing crime. I get it.

Outrage matters. Wanting outrage reflected in your candidate. matters. You guys want fighters. You don't really care what they're fighting about or how they fight, but you want fighters. That's what you want. You believe you got beaten by a fighter and you don't want to get beaten again, so you want a fighter to match their fighter. Now, I think, of course, of course, there are warnings that come along with this. Why? You got to be careful about becoming what you oppose. Yeah, but it beat us. I know, but either you're going to be about better being better than that, or you're in a battle to the bottom that I don't think you want to be in. second when i say you're what you oppose you've got to be careful about that is that's what trumps the the voters that drive you crazy the ones who say yeah i know trump is this i know trump is that i know he did this i know he did that i know he's right right no i wouldn't want him dating my mom no i wouldn't want to manage my money no i wouldn't want him here i wouldn't want him there but i voted for him anyway because i feel that he got where i was coming from with my outrage

and he wanted to do something about it he wanted to disrupt it you sound the same way now Now, hopefully you make a better choice in who manifests that outrage for you so that something gets done to make some of the things you care about better. That's where Tala Rico comes in. Tala Rico is all about we're pissed off and we're not going to take it anymore. He's in Howard Beale mode. But his package is, I think, the right one. And I'll tell you why. You may want a guy who looks like the rock.

movie star looks big dominant strong you know if you're looking for a guy at all or a woman similarly a real alpha female alpha male tough could kick this guy's ass could kick that guy's ass smarter quicker blah blah blah looks the part teller rico small young uh voice is measured and good maybe a little thin okay uh he doesn't really fit that mold i disagree I think he does fit the exact mold. And here's why. Of who you want in this particular fight against Ken Paxton. Now, I get why you would say, no, no, no, I want the rock.

I want a big guy who's, who are you calling low T? Yeah. No, I don't see it that way. Could you be right? Yeah. I don't think so. Here's my argument. Paxton is everything that's wrong with being an alpha male.

Okay? He's a haughty, arrogant, bullet. who does not live by any code other than his own appetites. That's just demonstrably true many times over, and I will make that case to you today. Tala RICO has no stink on him. Very important. No scandal.

No, they're going after him for his diet. And look, let's be honest. They're trying to say that Tala RICO is gay, right? I mean, that's what all this coded stuff is. They don't want to just come out and say it, which I'm surprised by, by the way. but that's what this is. I don't know what his deal is. He doesn't talk about it.

Oh, well, that's telling me. I don't know. I really don't care. I also don't care about Paxton's affair, by the way. I don't. Why? Listen, I care about me in my life. I care about my kids and their options. I care about our national security. I care about what's going on in this country and what's being done about it.

That's what I care about. None of those things are reflected by who is in Tala Rico or Paxton's bed. I don't know about you. I don't care about who is in Tala Ricos or Paxton's bed. I get that you can draw conclusions about those things if you want. I just don't think they matter to me. I see it this way. I'm drowning. I'm reaching my hand up. I'm drowning. I'm drowning. Okay? I cannot save myself. I'm drowning. Do you give a shit who's grabbing your hand? Seriously. Or, Or do you want to make sure that, one, they're willing to grab your hand, and two, they're strong enough to pull you out. They have a way to pull you out.

Isn't that what matters most? That's where I am. You may be somewhere else. That's fine. But I'm arguing that the majority of Americans are where I am, not where you are. And if you would ask them straight up, do you care if the guy is gay? Do you care if he cheats? Do you care if he's this?

You care if he's that? They don't care what you eat. They don't care who's in your bed. They don't. Those are luxury issues. Those are luxuries. Those are good problems to have in politics. Ken Paxton is playing by old rules,

and I think it's tone deaf at a minimum. I'll get to it. Tala Rico is the right package for the Democrats. Why? Because he's a real Christian who lives it in a way Ken Paxton can't even imagine. Okay? Ken Paxton, Donald Trump,

these guys are pigs, okay? and that's just how they are. It's how they live their lives. It's how they speak. It's how they regard themselves, women, other men. That's it. They're pigs. Okay.

Now, pigs can still be useful, right? And not just when you want bacon. But they are cunning. They know how to get what they want. And they're playing to a type of what is strength that I think is spoiled now. Talariko is a real Christian who lives it and articulates it the right way

for those of us who understand Christianity as a label to be about something more than how holy you are. It's about loving mercy. It's about how you apply it and live it. And by the way, I'm not saying I want Christian leaders. I want ethical leaders. I want competent leaders.

If they're religious and that helps them in that regard, great, I don't give a shit if they are or not. I don't. But if you are going to say you're that, you better demonstrate it the way Talariko does and articulated the way he does. Even Nancy Mace, who I have complimented in the past for things that I've

seen her do with my own eyes. But we're one nation one under God, not under Muhammad. What the fuck does that mean? We are not a religious country. Well, but it says a nation under God. It's a tradition. The Supreme Court has said it's a tradition. Yeah, a lot of the people who started this were Christians. Thomas Jefferson was an by the way. Not exactly one of our worst minds. The point is, we are not a religious country. So I don't

give a shit if you care about Muhammad or Jesus or whoever. That's not what we are. We're a secular state. Live it. Don't tell me about it and don't put it on me. Tala Rico checks those boxes. Okay? His articulation of the culture wars, I think, works in his favor. The people are where he is on reproductive rights and women should have been trusted and should not have had a right taken from them. He's right on that. And he's also right because of where we are right now, I don't think Paxton and the right MAGA get to say they care so much and they're better people because they care about people in the womb and they clearly don't give about shit about people when they're out of the room. You want to cut benefits for kids in need. Health care, food, you want to cut

them. You want to demonize people because of type. You want to abandon kids from their parents. And you're okay with all of that. But you care when they're in the room, when they're in the womb. You come out of the womb, you don't give a shit. You want to talk about them like shit. You want to treat them like shit. In the law and in culture. I don't think they have the high ground. And I don't think people see the issue in a vacuum. And the obsession of outrage is what? What kind of man you are? Nope. Not now. We don't have that luxury, not in this economic environment, not in Texas. Texas is hurting.

Texas has been hit harder by tariffs and harder by Trump's policies than other states. They are feeling it. And no, they're not a single issue voter anymore, the border, the border. Tala Rico is not for open borders, and he's not going to say he's for open borders. He's a multi-generation Texan. He's going to talk about enforcing the law. He's going to talk about how that should be. And he's going to leaven it with his understanding of humanity and compassion as a Christian.

He's going to be fine on that issue. It's on the economics that Kim Paxton is not going to be fine. Kim Paxton is playing by Trump's playbook and Trump's playbook is dated because he's not out of power. He's in power. And he is dirty. And dirty matters. Okay? He's a dirty politician.

He has been in trouble for how he behaves, multiple times. And yeah, he was impeached. And yeah, his party is in control. But he was not removed because they didn't have enough votes because it's a higher standard. And they didn't prosecute him.

Why? I believe it was rigged in his favor. But he wasn't prosecuted. And he has let people go. He did let a guy who basically admitted having an inappropriate sexual relationship with a seven-year-old

for years to basically serve no time as Attorney General. He was okay with that. He absolutely helped a donor and a business partner, and that's what got him impeached. He's dirty, he's Trumpy, but he's the old playbook. Because people are pissed about things that don't include Tala Rico's diet, his faith, who's in his bed, and just calling him extreme. Because there's nothing radical or crazy about saying you're killing us with this.

economy. Nothing. There's nothing radical or crazy of saying that what's happening in Iran and in Venezuela is not helping Texas. It's hurting Texas. The interesting thing here and the reason this is the fight we need to have right now, even in Texas, and I get it, it's been decades since a Democrat won statewide office in Texas. Yes, Tala Rico could be the next Beto O'Rourke. I don't think he is. I think Democrats have to be careful about how much money they dump into the race. Why? Because an advantage can be painted as a disadvantage, and money is the problem in politics. It is. If we change the money, everything would follow. Because what would be rewarded and what gets you rewarded would change.

But they have to be careful about that. I think it will hurt Tellerico. I think his being organic and his working at the way he's working at, let Paxton be the rich guy who helps the rich people. who gets the rich donors. Let him be that guy. He is that guy. So let him be that guy. Support for the Chris Cuomo project comes from Hymns.

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Now they're flipping it. And they're taking the seasoning and they're making it your main dish. So it's just a plate of salt. And now it's salt in a wound, which is the growing economic disparity that Trump is advancing, which makes so much more sense than him being a populist. Trump cutting taxes for the rich, helping the rich, not stepping up to the banks about credit card rates, not stepping up to the health care guys about their, you know, just complete control of our health care system for their own profit.

Wanting to cancel the Chips Act when we're in an existential situation with Taiwan. Starting foreign wars just to distract. Now pretending waste, fraud and abuse. use is the key to domestic tranquility, which has always existed, existed on his watch just as much. Doge was a complete bust, except for its legacy, which no one has ever told you, which is going to be Elon Musk and Donald Trump, ushering in the era of private industry, AI guys, getting our private information off government servers. That's what Doge did. Open the door, let them in, and let them use all our information for what, purposes, we will see. No one talks about that, but they should. This is MAGA-Uber-A-Alas. That's what this race is in Texas.

It's all about Trump. This is Trump's guy for no good reason. John Cornyn is a better public servant, a better Republican. by any measure other than one. Complete fealty and obeisance blindly to Trump. Trump killed one of the Republicans' better senators for no good reason except his own self-satisfaction and to show the others, you better stay in fucking line. Think about that. This is Maga Uber Al-Ali.

us. What does that mean? Over everything else. And yes, that is often connoted with Nazi propaganda. No, I do not think Trump is a Nazi. I do not think he is Hitler. I think he plays with those kinds of ideas and his manufactured division and his xenophobia. Absolutely. Absolutely. Ken Paxton is a bad candidate. He's got personal problems. He's got professional ethical problems. He's got financial entanglements. He definitely let off a scumbag who abused a seven-year-old and made it into misdemeanors.

Well, I had to do a deal. You know, sometimes justice requires compromise. With a pedophile? I don't think so. He's got a lot of baggage. All he has going for him is that talk about who's in your bed. Trump is in his bed. I don't care about his mistresses affairs, any of that bullshit.

Maybe that's why Trump likes him, who knows? But this is the real test. Is MAGA and fealty to Trump going to sway more voters in Texas than everything they see, they hear and they experience every day in their lives? and I believe for Democrats, you don't need to look like me to be a manly man. I don't even think you have to be married or have kids, to be honest. I don't. He's only 37 years old, okay?

He is really churched up. He doesn't put it on you in an obnoxious way. If you're an agnostic or you're somebody who doesn't really buy or sees religion as a sign of mental illness, Tala Rico makes a different choice. But he's not offensive to your choice. You'll see that in him. He's very smart. He can kill you with kindness.

Paxton is a ham-fisted brute. He's a bully. We've all known guys like him. I've had to take guys like him on because they were bullying me because they were coming at me. When I was a kid, when I was an adult, professionally, personally, I know guys like him.

And I know how to sit him on their ass. So does Tala Rico. Now, is he exaggerating certain things Is he playing politics? Yeah. But look, I don't think Democrats are going to punish him for that, okay? I think that if anything, they're going to want him to be more of that. And I think he's going to have to fight that inclination.

But he's got the right fight in the right place, believe it or not. Why? Because I think he can win. I do. And I hope that early polls show not too big a yawning gap so that people take the race seriously. But then again, there is a good side to a. a yawning gap early on, which is if he chops 10 points off it in a month and a half or two, now you got something. So good work either way. But for the Democrats, this is exactly your fight

because it's all about what the out-of-power party wants to manifest. Look what he's done. Look what's going on. Everything's worse. And how he's doing things that have been done to the satisfaction of the voters are still being done in a way that's hard to feel good about. That's dice. Now, why still would you want this? Tala Rico? I don't know, man, you know, he's got these personal things. No, he really doesn't. That's what I'm trying to tell you. He really doesn't. Okay? And he is right on the economics. And he's right on pointing out that Paxton is representative of exactly what has made it this way. People with poor ethics, poor ambitions, and poor skills, being rewarded for keeping the rich

and the two-tiered system in place. That's Ken Paxton. Tala Rico is exactly right, and he is not that guy. And when they look at him as a state legislator and as a community organizer, he is about very different things. He's worked with other sides,

he's written the right kinds of bills, he's done the right kinds of things. The economic reality is going to be the dominant one, and Tala Rico has his finger on the pulse. Okay? Paxton represents exactly what got us here. Right? Another doy white guy who thinks Trump before anything else, who takes care of the wrong people in the wrong situations for the wrong reasons. He checks every box. It's almost crazy to have him running against Cornyn and taking him out the way he did. Does it show Trump is strong? So how do you factor that in? Isn't that enough?

maybe, maybe it is enough in Texas. Maybe if this were, you know, a different state that has a chance of being more purple, you know, being more balanced, it would be better for Democrats. I say no, why? Because if you can change it in Texas, you'll be changing it everywhere. And it is a real bellwether. And it's going to be a real sign of what's going to happen in the midterms that will actually do what we saw with Reagan, the last Trumpy guy we had. Now, he was much more classy. He was much more genteel.

He won over a lot more hearts and minds. He was not a divider by nature or inclination. I would say he was by effect and the underlying meaning of a lot of his rhetoric. But be that as it may. The Democrats swept into Congress afterwards because his policies were such bullshit. I see that here again. Because waste, fraud and abuse is not going to make up for the fact that, by the way, if you really cared about those things and you don't,

Doge wouldn't have been the disgrace that it was. you wouldn't be putting together a slush fund for the scumbags that broke into the capital. You wouldn't be making money hand over fist and cutting services and cutting oversight and cherry-picking things. And people who cared about a fraud and an abuser would be all over Donald Trump

and his administration every day of the week. 24-7, 365, and they're not. Waste fraud and abuse is real. It's hard to argue I'm for waste fraud and abuse. Of course, I'm not who would be. And of course, if you're going at them, about going after waste fraud and abuse, it seems to mean that you're defending it,

but you're not. It's that it's a 10% margin. Oh, but that's real money to real people. Fuck you. It's not real money to you. You've increased our spending like nobody else. You've increased our debt like nobody else. You've made our borrowing more than the GDP

for the first time in our fucking history. All right? You're not a real one. Tala Rico can make that case. Tala Rico can make that case to Ken Paxton's face. And he will be looking for opportunities to do that and can Paxton will not want to give him those opportunities and wait and see how that plays out.

Wait and see. And what will happen is, this goes one of two ways. He's going to chase him and he's going to get him. Or Paxton's going to say, I'm not afraid of this guy. I'll take him apart. And he's going to get his ass kicked.

And then he's going to run. And Talariko's going to follow him around the state. Remember, I said this. And that is the right thing to do because that's the right kind of strength and muscularity of purpose. It's not about what you're basically. press or how big your belly is or how many women you chase around. Those are magimetrics.

They're not real ones. They're not American ones. Tala Rico checks all the right boxes. I don't care who's in his bed anymore than I do about Ken Paxton. He's got no high ground. That's for sure. And whatever Tala Rico's doing with his diet, Paxton should think about. He's a tub of shit if you really care about that. And by the way, I do. By the way, if we were talking about me, I look at Ken Paxton. I'd rather be Tala Rico than Ken Paxton. Why? Because I can always add on, you know, peering down from being a tub of shit

at 63 years of age. No good. Better why, watch out how many young women he's getting a peace of he may have a heart attack. But this is the fight. Why? Because on the right, it's all about Trump Uber Alas. And you can say, yeah, but look how he killed John Cornyn

and doesn't that make the point that Trump is too strong. At least in Texas, he's too strong. Well, among Ruby Red Republicans, sure but that turnout wasn't amazing it was the largest turnout in a runoff wait but we just proved trump brought out more voters than ever among his base yeah but the whole state's his base i don't know that i don't know that not when they're thinking about what's affecting them personally and not when they're thinking about what we need in the u.s senate which is supposed to be a deliberative

body it's another thing paxton doesn't have any doesn't have it going for him Why? Because he's a low-rent guy. Tala Rico is actually a thinker. Yeah, but he's only 37. No, I get it, but age and stage are different things. And you can have talent at a young age. You know how old Martin Luther King was? You know how old and Malcolm X was?

You know how old the founding fathers were? Age is not everything. Experience. Stage matters also. Now, this main pivot point is, but he brought out more votes in the primary and the turnoff than we've ever seen 100% increase, he killed the guy who you're saying is better.

Maga's just too much. I don't think so set against what people need for their own families. I don't think so. And I believe that if you don't do it where it's hard, you're not going to do it in any huge scalable way. That's what I'm trying to tell you. See, they'll argue to you, look, Texas is the hardest place we could be doing this. Maybe.

But if you want to do it at the scale they say they do, I believe this is the race. because if you do it in Texas with Tala Rico versus MAGA, you are doing it on what I believe is the most potent oppositional structures in our politics right now, which is MAGA versus reality. And I think the reality is on the side of not being MAGA. And I think that him taking out Cornyn was a huge mistake

because Cornyn beats Tala Rica. and I don't know that Paxton does. He is everything that's wrong with Trump. He is everything that people want disrupted and to change. Think about that. What does it mean to you that you're in a Christian state, supposedly, right? And you're running a guy who's a real Christian against the guy who's a complete dirtbag on so many different levels. I'm not even thinking about his personal, his love life.

And he is absolutely that. He's done all kinds of shady shit, said shady shit, that Christians should reject first if they weren't being complete hypocrites. This is the race exactly because of what makes Paxton formidable in the place where he is. Ken Paxton doesn't exist in Illinois. Ken Paxton doesn't exist in a place where a party takes itself seriously with any kind of standards other than just checking the box of which side you're on. He's dirty.

He's dirty. That's what he is. And I'm telling you, going full MAGA the way he is, instead of talking about the problems. Now, they'll say, oh, we're going to do that. What you say first is what you mean most. Okay? What you say first is what you mean most. Lottie Talarigo.

And I wouldn't be surprised if Trump gave him those lines, by the way. Trump's very clever, very good trash talker, very good. but I think each and all of them are going to piss people off. One, because they're tired of it. They don't want to own mean. People don't want to have to own your hate. People don't want to have to own your prejudice, your bigotry, unless they're bigots. And most of us aren't, okay?

Overwhelmingly, most of us aren't. I don't want to own someone. I don't have to defend somebody who's gay bashing who's, you know, talking about being a real man. on the basis of your diet, some stupid shit like that? I don't want to own that, do you? I don't want to own a guy who let a pedophile go, do you? I don't want to own a guy who obviously led his partner who helped him get his house renovated

go on really dirty political stuff that got him impeached. Do you? This baby Trump? Yeah, but look how well it worked. Only among MAGA. Yeah, but Texas is all MAGA. I don't know that. What are you saying?

You haven't had a Democrat win statewide in decades. I know. But if there is real change of foot, the way I believe there is, I believe this. Why, every metric tells me. What do people hate about Republicans?

Trump. Protecting and defending and being about Trump. What do they hate about Democrats? Two left. What is that? Bad messaging. Bad messaging Well, they're for open borders

No, they're fucking not. James Tala Rico's now for open borders. No, he's not. Well, it should be a front porch, a big welcome sign. Yeah, look at the rest of the quote. He says you don't get just to come in. We got to meet you, we got to know who you are, and then you get to come in the house.

You're not hearing the rest of the quote. See, the problem is Ken Paxson's not being taken out of context the way they're doing with Tala Rico. Ken Paxson is a real one. He's a real nasty Trump. That's what he is. And that's what people hate about Republicans the most. He's exactly that.

Yeah, but Tala Rico is exactly what they hate. No, he isn't. First of all, he's a straight-up Christian. How many radical lefties are straight-up Christians? Okay? And by the way, I could make the case that you could be a straight-up Christian and absolutely be a radical lefty, but whatever. Not many.

how many are his clean cut and open to conversation and working with the other side as Tala Rico has been and says so all the time yeah but he doesn't believe in gender no he doesn't believe it's important to limit and to create boxes I mean come on that's where most of us are maybe certain things make sense to you seem normal or not normal to you but do you want them excluded because of that do you really care what one of your friends' kids comes home and says, I'm by or whatever they are? Do you really care? Come on.

Well, I don't want him teaching my kid that he should chop his dick off. Yeah, me either. Nobody's doing that. Tala Rico's not going to say he's for that. Stupid. Oh, all he wants is abortions. Really? Really?

You think a Christian is abortion crazy? That's what you think? Come on. I'm telling you, it's good. If you're afraid of these things, good. You're going to be pleasantly surprised. Because he's going to wave these things away as the bullshit that they are. He's got problems.

He's in the wrong place trying to convince the wrong kinds of people about the right things. Hmm. It's true. And I'm not condemning Texans. I'm saying that they are politically and culturally conditioned, just like you are in New York. Just like you are in Pennsylvania. Just like you are in any big state. even small states you have your ways you have your trigger points you have your you know your your

points of uh controversy that are specific to you and tallarico's got a challenge on the border side he's going to have to go bad on democrats and what they've done in the past and i believe he will but i do not believe he's got anywhere near the level of restrictions on him and red flags on him that paxton does Paxton is exactly what Republicans are hated for. Exactly. To the T. Okay? And yes, as in for Trump.

Tala Rico is not. He's not. And I think the fact that he may not look like some leading male matinee idol is okay. He's a good guy. And it comes through. And he believes in good things. He believes in goodness. He believes in taking care of people.

He believes him working with the other side. He does not want to demonize his opposition. Oh, yeah, then why is he calling him the most corrupt politics? Well, look, he's in politics. He's exaggerating it for effect. But Paxton's also pretty dirty. It's not like he's saying it about a clean guy, right? But going after his diet is the best thing you have,

and you don't think it's a warning sign that they don't have a lot. You're worried about your business suffering, jobs are leaving, purchasing powers down, a lot of scary things seeming to go on about what's happening. And he's talking to you about the guy's diet. And you think that's going to work for more than the rabbit? No way. This is the race in the right place, at the right time to send the right message.

And look, Tala Rico is the underdog. It's no question, but so are you. We are the underdog. We lose against they, the powerful, the wants of the few, the two-tiered system that we have in this country. We lose consistently to it. Consistently. Taxation, regulation, preferences. I mean, everything's set up for them. The justice system, it's all set up for the wants of the few. You don't think it's a coincidence that the guy that Paxton got out of the pedophile thing as a rich guy? You don't think it's a coincidence that the guy he helped that got him impeached as a rich guy? Come on. We are underdogs in our own country as the

majority. Why? Because we've enabled it. And I think that changes. Look, it's too easy. There are too many critical thinkers who can just look back and say, what the fuck changed here anyway? Look from the 70s to the 80s and you'll see what changed. changed. Productivity went up 60 plus percent. Wages, 17. Wait, why? Because we stopped rewarding the people who created the productivity and started rewarding the people who were betting on it. It was just a choice. And then we preference the companies who were doing that instead of preferencing them for 60% of up in that, 40, 50% up in the wages, the way we used to. The reason, corpse get the preferences they get over small businesses when they're only 0.1% of the businesses

in the country. And yes, they do half the GDP. They do half the hiring. They don't do all of it. They do half. But they get all of the preferences just about why? Because they took care of a lot of workers. But our two largest employers have a huge percentage of their workers, in my opinion, on Medicaid. How do you deserve a preference if I have to pay for your workers' health care? how do you deserve a preference? If you pay your workers so little, they're on food stamps. How do you deserve a preference? You tell me, that's what Kim Paxton wants to defend.

That's what Tala Rica wants to change. See what I'm saying? This is the ultimate test of what MAGA really means in a state where it could mean everything. And I don't think it will. And I think this is the exact fight. And I think this is the exact kind of guy that Democrats need. I don't think they need a fire breather. I think this is a strong guy who has a lot of strength in his convictions and his ideas and is very adept at arguing them.

I even think he's better than Buttigieg. I do. Buttigieg is very smart. Now, why do I put them in the same category? Why? Because they're both small men who get hits for not being macho enough, which I think is stupid. But I also have to pay attention to what's actually real, right? And that has been done.

And it's being done now. But I think it's a different time. And I think there are different stakes, and I think there are different people who are pissed off in different ways. And MAGA has been bested in populism by the mega movement, more, deeper, angrier, not vindictive, not prejudice-based, okay? Not us and them. It's we versus they. It's the many wanting the balance of the benefits, not just the few. that's what shifted.

That's never what Trump was. Trump was, we are the angry few. Remember he said the deplorables, the deplorables? I still love you, deplorables. He really does think that about you, by the way. You know that, right? He thinks your shit, just so you know. He used to not even want to shake your hand.

He only does it now because he got too much criticism of it in politics. That's why he's also kind of going to the fist bump as much as it can. By the way, I totally get why people don't want to shake hands. I don't. I get it. a health perspective, I get it. But from a character perspective, I do not get it. From in terms of a human regard, I don't get it. I think it's a real problem. But Trump has been able to overcome all the things that would have killed anybody else. Why? Because the outrage and the desperation for

disruption was greater. And the people who voted for him were not necessarily wrong about what's wrong, but they were wrong about who and what would make it right. Talarico has the ability to not shame those people for voting for Trump. But to say, come together. You are. right about what's wrong. I see it. Maybe I didn't even see it as well until you pointed it out to me, but I do now, and we're going to do something about it together. That could work even in Texas, and I think we're going to see that. I think it's the right race, at the right time, with the right two people who represent all the right things that need to be into a fight where only one survives. That's how I see it. How do you see it? Thank you for subscribing and following here at the Chris

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