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James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate in Texas, appeared to extend an olive branch to President Donald Trump in a podcast released Monday, expressing a willingness to work with Trump on a wide range of issues.
“I would love, as the next U.S. senator from Texas, to work with Donald Trump to actually fulfill some of the promise of his political project,” Talarico told Steve Bartlett, the host of “The Diary of a CEO” podcast.
“The promise of MAGA was that we were going to transform this government so that it delivered for the people who have been left behind, the people who have been forgotten in this country. And there’s still time to do that,” Talarico continued.
Talarico, who Trump has frequently mocked and criticized in the months leading up to the Texas state representative’s crucial midterm contest against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, explained that he’d love to work with Trump on issues like healthcare and housing.
Texas state Rep. James Talarico, who is running for U.S. Senate, speaks during a town hall on Saturday, July 11, 2026, at the Plaza Theatre in El Paso, Texas. (USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect)
“If the president wants to work with me or with any Democrat to expand healthcare access, I’m there. If he wants to make sure that every single kid in this country gets high-quality, accessible childcare, I’m there. If he wants to tackle the housing problem — Donald Trump is a builder — if he wants us to slash the red tape in this country so we could build millions of new homes and ensure everyone in this country has a place to call home, that I’m there. I’ll work with him to do it. I would love to do that, ” Talarico said.
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Talarico also indicated that a successful midterm election for Democrats could be a “rebirth” for Trump’s presidency.
“If the people of Texas, if the people of this country elect leaders who are going to check the president, I think it could be a rebirth for his presidency,” Talarico said.
State Representative James Talarico, a Democrat from Texas and US Senate candidate, during a campaign event at the University Of North Texas in Denton, Texas, on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026. (Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Talarico added that he hoped a Democratic victory Tuesday could be a “wake-up call” for Trump and his administration, claiming that he felt the administration should “reverse course” if faced with a Democratic supermajority in Congress.
Talarico’s willingness to reach across the aisle comes despite months of Trump badmouthing him on social media and the president campaigning in person for Paxton.
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Trump has taken to frequently referring to Talarico as “TalaFREAKo” in posts on Truth Social, calling him “unelectable” in Texas and disparagingly referring to him as a vegan, a charge which Talarico denies.
Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico (left) was mocked by President Donald Trump (right) during his remarks at the Republican National Committee midterm convention in Dallas on Sept. 9, 2026. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt cast doubt on the authenticity of Talarico’s intentions during a Tuesday morning appearance on “FOX & Friends.”
“I don’t buy it for one second,” Leavitt said.
“This is exactly what the Democrats do in every election cycle. They are incredibly disingenuous. In fact, it’s the one thing they are good at. They talk like the radical leftist that they are until they win their Democrat nomination. And then they try to fool voters by appearing moderate so that they can win their votes. But when they are elected, God forbid, if Talarico is elected, and we pray that he isn’t after polls closed tonight, he will govern as a far left extreme liberal that he truly is,” she continued.
“Just listen to his own words. Some of the things he said in the past, he said he’s a Christian who hates Christianity. He said God is non-binary. He said he believes there are six genders. He said that the United States southern border in the great state of Texas should be like a front porch where everybody is welcomed, while James Talarico, we have that for four years under the Biden administration, and it resulted in the worst border crisis in American history. He wants to abolish ICE. He wants to open our prisons. This is not somebody who is going to work with President Trump to secure our border and continue deporting illegal aliens,” Leavitt added.
Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks onstage during the second day of the 2026 Republican National Convention at American Airlines Center on Sept. 10, 2026, in Dallas, Texas. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
“This is somebody who would join the ranks of the extremely liberal Democrat Party to engage in lawfare and obstructionism of all of the common sense policies that the Trump administration is continuing to pursue. And that’s exactly why the great people of Texas need to get out and vote,” Leavitt concluded.
The Talarico campaign and the White House did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for further comment.