As Texas Democrats search for a candidate capable of competing statewide, State Rep. James Talarico is attempting to present himself as a centrist who supports law enforcement. But newly resurfaced video from just a few years ago is drawing renewed attention to comments that appear to tell a very different story.
Although Talarico’s campaign now insists that he opposes efforts to defund police departments and points to his legislative voting record as evidence, remarks he delivered during a 2022 speech suggest he once embraced many of the same ideas promoted by the “Defund the Police” movement that swept across the country after the 2020 riots.
The speech, delivered to inmates participating in a Texas prison high school diploma graduation ceremony, featured Talarico outlining what he described as a future where prisons would no longer be necessary. Throughout his remarks, he argued that government should dramatically shift money away from law enforcement and corrections while expanding spending on social programs.
