Texas Senate nominee James Talarico spoke out after MAGA podcaster Joshua Haymes and pastor Brooks Potteiger—who counts Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth among his congregants—prayed that "God kills" Talarico.
Earlier this month, Talarico pulled off an upset against Texas Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett, who has urged Democrats to support his candidacy as the 2026 midterm season kicks off.
Talarico is openly Christian—and that's not enough for the MAGA faithful and Christian nationalists like Haymes, who said he hopes "God kills" Talarico to make a statement.
Haymes said:
"You're not called to love the barbarian horde that is planning to break into your city and pillage, plunder, rape, and mutilate you and your people. You don't love that horde. This is where you pray ... 'Destroy them. God, make them as dung on the ground.'"
"I pray that God kills him. Ultimately, that means killing his heart and raising him up to new life in Christ. That's the first thing."
Potteiger replied with a hope that Talarico could be martyred like Saul of Tarsus, also known as Paul the Apostle:
"We want him crucified with Christ. I want him to be Saul of Tarsus, Talarico of Tarsus. That's what I want."
Haymes agreed, adding:
"Yes, we want death and new life. If it would not be within God's will to do so, stop him by any means necessary."
You can hear what they said in the video below.
Talarico has openly opposed Christian nationalism, once referring to it as "the worship of power—social power, economic power, political power, in the name of Christ." He has condemned the way Christian nationalists have warped the teachings of Jesus, turning him "into a gun-toting, gay-bashing, science-denying, money-loving, fear-mongering fascist."
And he condemned it further with a response more graceful than one would expect, directing the following message at Potteiger in particular:
"Jesus loves. Christian Nationalism kills. You may pray for my death, Pastor, but I still love you. I love you more than you could ever hate me."
You can see his response below.
Many appreciated his response and criticized Potteiger and Haymes themselves.
Despite there being video footage of Potteiger's remarks, he nonetheless claimed in a social media post that the story is “false” and gave some “clarifying thoughts.”
Talarico has said legislators must "codify Roe v. Wade and protect access to contraception and IVF so that families can get the reproductive care they need and so that women are no longer dying needlessly due to Texas’ dangerous abortion ban."
Potteiger took this to mean that Talarico "joyfully advocates for the right for babies to be murdered in the womb" and "knowingly twists the Scriptures to suggest God supports the murder of babies.”
He said the Bible’s imprecatory psalms give believers language to oppose the plans of “evildoers,” adding that God “even says so in capital terms.” Referring to Talarico, Potteiger said he prays that “the 'old man' would die” within him, describing the lawmaker as one of “those who celebrate baby murder.”
Potteiger insisted the journalists who reported on his remarks "misunderstood" points he made about salvation—which is exactly the sort of gaslighting we've come to accept from the Christian nationalist wing of the MAGA movement.
