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GOP Strategist Tries To Smear James Talarico With One Of His Old Facebook Posts—And It Backfires Spectacularly
Born in Round Rock, Texas, Talarico graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Arts in government in 2011, then graduated from Harvard University with a Master of Education in education policy in 2016. While serving in the Texas House of Representatives, he also earned his Master of Divinity degree at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
The Texas Democrat has proven to be a devout Christian who practices what he preaches and what the Bible teaches, denouncing both Christian nationalism and the "prosperity gospel" espoused by Evangelical ministers-turned-millionaires off donations from their flocks.
So for a group that declares themselves the party of family values—while being led by thrice divorced and chronically unfaithful MAGA Republican President Donald Trump with policy written by Christian nationalists and White supremacists—Talarico is kryptonite for the GOP.
As such, Republican strategists and party organizations like the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC) have been desperately looking for ways to besmirch Talarico. The NRSC's attempt using an AI generated deepfake of Talarico reading old Twitter posts failed miserably.
On April 29, Republican strategist Bobby LaValley tried his luck at tarnishing Talarico's public image by posting on X a screenshot of a 14-year-old Facebook post the Texas state representative made.
LaValley captioned his post:
"Democrat James Talarico posted this in 2012:"
"'Looking forward to spending my birthday with the 6th grade boys…'"
"No teacher, let alone a U.S. Senate candidate, should ever post that."
You can see LaValley's post here:
As a member of the GOP, where almost every day brings a new scandal involving a Republican with an underage victim, arrests for child pornography, or sex crimes of some kind, it's easy to see why LaValley's mind took him someplace salacious over a post Talarico made about a 6th grade field trip to his alma mater, the University of Texas at Austin.
Others just found LaValley's attempt to attack Talarico pathetic, creepy, and a major self-own.
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Even conservatives found LaValley's attempt to smear Talarico ridiculous, though not without trying to get their own pathetic dig in.
Despite serving in a Republican-controlled legislature, Talarico was the lead sponsor of 16 bills that became laws, including eight focused on education, childcare, and youth workforce development.
Videos of his words and his actions, in and out of the Texas legislature, went viral several times, as early as 2021 when he called out then Fox News host Pete Hegseth live on air for spreading Trump's Big Lie about his 2020 election loss, years before Talarico became a known entity on the national political landscape.
Talarico has also been vocal in his opposition to Christian nationalism, calling it "the worship of power—social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ." He called out the Christian nationalists that dominate the GOP for turning Jesus "into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist."
Maybe that's why now Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's pastor and Christian nationalist grifter Brooks Potteiger prayed alongside MAGA podcaster Joshua Haymes for God to kill Talarico.
But the Democratic state representative responded with his usual grace.
The RNC saw Talarico as such a threat that Trump’s FCC threatened CBS and The Late Show with Stephen Colbert with sanctions if they aired an interview with the Texas state representative set to air even before Talarico was the Democratic candidate for Senate.
CBS pulled the interview, leading to widespread backlash—and, as a result, the interview went viral online.
Every strike the Republicans have tried to make against the Texas Democrat has blown up in their faces. At this rate, Talarico could shut down his campaign activities and just let the GOP do the work for him.
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Trump Ambassador Dragged After Seemingly Facetuning Herself In Official Government Video
Gingrich announced she "will be leading a delegation" at the event "where partnerships are built and deals are made." She invited interested parties to register and visit the summit's official website for more information.
But people noticed pretty quickly that she appeared to have Facetuned herself because there wasn't a wrinkle in sight.
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Facetune is often used for portrait and selfie editing. The app lets users digitally enhance their appearance through edits like teeth whitening, blemish removal, skin smoothing, lighting correction, contouring, and virtual makeup application, making it particularly popular among social media influencers.
Why Gingrich felt it appropriate to use the application in an official government video is anyone's guess—and people couldn't help but point out just how glaringly obvious its effects look, especially against that hyper-blue screen.
Gingrich has been called out for using Facetune in the past and was criticized as recently as March for sharing a selfie with her husband in which her face and under-eyes had no wrinkles and the creases around her eyes and nostrils had been faded. Her 82-year-old husband—who is 22 years her senior—looked very much his age in comparison.
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Gingrich is clearly no stranger to looking uncanny, posting similarly Facetuned photographs across X and Instagram. In each of these images, she looks particularly faultless, while her husband still has wrinkles, laugh lines, and color in his face.
Hilary Duff Shares Simple Yet Powerful Mantra Amid Worrying Weight Loss Trends—And Fans Are Applauding
Duff always played characters that, while they might be pressured to fit a certain mold, always eventually fought for their individuality, in the sense of who they were, the clothes they wore, and the body they were in.
That was just as true of Hilary Duff in her real life, when she was a teen and still now in her thirties.
While walking the red carpet at the TIME 100 Gala last week, the Lizzie McGuire star opened up about the returning trend she's witnessing in Hollywood of skinny and thin being celebrated, just like when she was growing up.
Duff said:
"I obviously, you know, grew up during that time where all of us were trying to, like, disappear and be waifs, and that’s not natural for my body, and, you know, for most of our bodies."
"Especially as we endure, like, the hormonal changes or motherhood and pregnancy, and all of those amazing things that make us women, right?"
"So ‘stronger not smaller’ is a huge, impactful statement that resonates with me."
"I am strong, and I do have muscles, and I’ve always been a gymnast."
"I used to be embarrassed of, like, my strength, and I just don’t need to be anymore."
You can watch the video here:
Some TikTokers applauded Duff and pointed out that she'd always practiced what she preached.
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Others shared their favorite moments from Duff's commentary.
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Over on Instagram, the video went similarly viral.
Instagrammers celebrated Duff as one of their favorite role models from her generation.
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Duff previously opened up on Jay Shetty's podcast about the pressures to be "skinny" and how she struggled to stay true to herself, making it more important to her than ever before to advocate for others going through the same.
Duff reflected:
“When I was a teenager, I was pretty confident. But also mixed with the insecurities of your teenhood and your early 20s."
"Then on top of it, I was dealing with people commenting on my body at a young age and starting to get photographed, and people asking you how many times you weigh yourself, or comparing you to people that were thinner than you or other girls in your line of work.”
Duff is a loud advocate for self-love, individuality, strength, and health over conforming to a specific aesthetic and number on the scale, not just because she believes in these things, but because she's experienced the pressure herself.
While we all have an idea in our minds of what we would like our bodies to look like, what number we want to see on the scale, and what style of clothes we want to wear, we have to find a way to honor those goals while prioritizing our health even more.
'SNL' Writer Reveals His Sister's Disappearance Has Now Been Ruled A Homicide In Heartbreaking Post
At the time, Fowlie wrote:
"my sister has been missing and we are worried that she isn’t safe. Her married name is Downer but she may go by Christina Fowlie. Please share this so that if anyone has seen her, they can give any information to the police. The phone number is 213 996 1800 and her case number is 25237639. she was last seen in LA. thank you"
You can see the post here:
In the weeks that followed, Fowlie shared subsequent posts about Downer.
The day after the first post, Fowlie shared information about his sister's beloved dog Rex, a Miniature Pinscher, followed by a carousel of recent photos of Downer.
A few days after Christmas, Fowlie shared several updates saying that he was in Los Angeles distributing flyers.
In January, Fowlie shared a series of posts with past and more recent photos and videos of his sister.
Then, on Wednesday, Fowlie shared an update no family wants to get and no brother wants to share.
White text on a black background shared the information, while Fowlie simply captioned the heartbreaking news:
"thank you for all your continued support during this terrible time. I’m gonna take a step back from social media due to the intense overwhelming feelings. Please take any info you may have directly to LAPD and not me."
Fowlie's post shared:
"The LAPD has informed our family that Christina is no longer alive, and the case has officially transitioned from a missing person to a homicide investigation."
"Our prayers for her to be found safely have transformed into prayers for the truth to be revealed and for those responsible to be held accountable."
You can see Fowlie's post here:
The post included a carousel of photos of Christina Fowlie Downer from throughout her life.
Fowlie added:
"We have reason to believe that in the weeks before she went missing, her phone and social media were compromised."
"The individual(s) in possession of her phone used it to hide the fact she was gone, to ask for money, and to create a false narrative that she was going 'off the grid.'"
Fowlie continued:
"I am sharing this because I believe that whoever is responsible is hoping to erase her in every way possible. I want to amplify her story in the only way I know how. And to express that she was a beautiful person who matters in this world, especially to me."
"I also believe there is a chance that someone who knows something might find the courage to step forward. My sister can no longer advocate for herself, but I can and I hope you will too. The best way you could support me in this moment is to share this post and to talk about her story. Thank you"
Fowlie's friends and colleagues shared their condolences.
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As a writer, Fowlie joined SNL in 2022 for its 48th season and won an Emmy for his writing on "SNL50: The Anniversary Special." He also wrote for Netflix’s Roommates and Sabrina Carpenter’s 2024 Nonsense Christmas Special.
As an actor, Fowlie appeared in FX’s English Teacher and ABC’s The Goldbergs.
His two talents combined for Max’s The Other Two, in which he acted and wrote for the series.