An X account that Democratic Texas Senate nominee James Talarico has publicly identified as belonging to his adoptive father, Mark Talarico, has posted controversial comments and memes about Christianity and women.
James Talarico follows the account on X and has interacted with it over the years. In one post from February 2020, James Talarico responded to a message praising his work as a Texas state representative with the words, “You taught me well, Pops!”
In another exchange from July 2022, James Talarico corrected a user who had mistaken the person behind the profile for his biological father, who has been reported to have been abusive. In the post, James Talarico identified the person behind the Mark Talarico account as his adoptive dad and the “greatest man I’ve ever known.”
Hi Linda — you’re referring to my biological father. This is Mark Talarico, my adoptive dad and the greatest man I’ve ever known.
— James Talarico (@jamestalarico) July 16, 2022
The account linked to Mark Talarico, however, has maintained an active presence weighing in on current affairs and at times even making controversial comments regarding Christianity and derogatory statements and imagery involving Republican women.
In a Sept. 17, 2023, exchange about the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, a user wondered if “Christ had died via a pole up the ass I wonder if he’d have been as revered.” A reply from the Mark Talarico account read, “definitely make for some interesting James Avery jewelry.”
On Feb. 22, 2023, the Mark Talarico account replied to a Fox News image showing two individuals with ash crosses on their foreheads to mark Ash Wednesday. The reply featured a video in which a man has the word “twat” written across his head.
On Aug. 7, 2024, the Mark Talarico profile replied to a video from the account “Christian Nightmares,” in which a woman, promoting the March for Kids, describes her journey with Christianity after suffering abuse as a child and leaving a relationship with a woman after being “hit by the grip of God.”
“He grabbed my heart and I knew that his love could set me free and that’s exactly what happened,” the woman says in the video.
“Real shame your god could not have prevented that family trauma in the first place,” the account replied.
The religious posts offer a split-screen to James Talarico, who has campaigned for Texas’s Senate seat as a religious Democrat and has spoken about his aspirations to become a preacher.
Other posts featured derogatory remarks about Republican women. One Jan. 2024 comment, responding to an image featuring Kari Lake and three other women, said the group “is like the afternoon shift at a strip club.”
Another post featured an image of the Disney villain Ursula in response to an image of former Greece ambassador Kimberly Guilfoyle on Jan. 11, 2024.
James Talarico, who was adopted by Mark Talarico as a child, has described his dad as a role model for himself, at one point calling him the “best man” that he knows.
“Anyone can be a father, but it takes someone special to be a dad,” James Talarico said during an event in Austin, Texas, on March 14, 2026.
Recounting how, as a child, he watched his adoptive father mow the lawn of an elderly neighbor on Saturdays, James Talarico said that Mark showed him what “being a man is all about.”
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“It’s taking care of the people around you,” James Talarico said. “It’s doing what’s right even when no one is watching. The internet tells these young men that being a man means tearing other people down. It means trolling and owning and dominating. So that’s not what my dad taught me.”
The Washington Examiner has reached out to Guilfoyle’s lawyer and Kari Lake’s team for comment. Talarico’s campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
