James Talarico is a Presbyterian seminarian running for the U.S. Senate in Texas.
Now he's telling Christians that the Bible has nothing to say about abortion.
Franklin Graham just told him exactly what that is.
The Claim That Started It All
Talarico – the Democrat challenging Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the Senate this November – made the statement during a Monday interview, arguing that abortion is not a place for politicians or the state.
"Jesus never talks about abortion," Talarico said. "The Bible is silent on abortion. And when that happens with a social issue as important as abortion, we Christians have to take scripture as a whole."
A Presbyterian seminarian said that.
A man studying to become a pastor looked into a camera and told millions of Christians that the Word of God offers no guidance on the killing of unborn children.
https://twitter.com/LifeNewsHQ/status/2060347897091358912?s=20
Graham, CEO of Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, wasn't having it.
"Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico couldn't be more wrong!" Graham wrote on social media Wednesday. "The Bible is not silent on abortion as he claims – that's an absolute lie. God commands us, 'You shall not murder' (Exodus 20:13). Abortion is taking a life – it is murder."
Graham didn't stop there.
"The Word of God tells us we are created in the image of God and consistently underscores the value of human life. Jeremiah 1:5 says, 'Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.'"
This is not subtle theology.
This is not a close textual dispute requiring graduate-level scholarship to unpack.
These are verses every confirmed Christian in America has heard dozens of times.
Democrats Have Been Running This Play for Decades
Grab a Bible. Talk about Jesus.
Then tell Christians that the parts of Scripture that inconvenience the party platform are somehow unclear, mistranslated, or simply not there.
Graham has confronted this before.
When the Washington Post once claimed a biblical verse about miscarriage had been mistranslated – an argument designed to pull the scriptural rug from under pro-life Christians – he went straight to Fox News to answer it.
"Our beliefs about the sanctity of life aren't just tied to a single verse that some may try and find fault with – they are wrapped up in the entirety of Scripture," Graham said. "The inescapable and unmistakable theme that God created us and loves us is repeated throughout the Bible."
That answer applies directly to Talarico.
https://twitter.com/aj_inapi/status/2060708476528332990?s=20
The pro-life case isn't built on finding one verse with the word "abortion" in it.
It's built on a God who says He knew us before He formed us in the womb – on Psalm 139, on Luke 1, on an entire Scripture that treats human life as sacred from the moment of conception.
Talarico knows this.
He has a master's degree in theological studies from Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary.
He has read these texts.
Which means the claim isn't theological ignorance. It's theological deception – deployed in service of a Senate campaign.
This Is Who He Really Is
The Bible-is-silent argument isn't even the most revealing thing Talarico has said.
In 2021, he opposed a bill to ban men from competing in women's sports by claiming that "God is non-binary."
He has referred to women as "neighbors with a uterus" while lamenting the Supreme Court's Dobbs decision – saying that after Dobbs, "every one of our neighbors with a uterus became property of the state."
After that same ruling, he called on Joe Biden to open federal buildings in red states as abortion facilities – using government property to circumvent state law entirely.
This is the man standing in front of Texas voters quoting Scripture and talking about Jesus.
Graham's warning to close his post says everything: "Don't be deceived by wicked politicians spouting lies like this."
https://twitter.com/TevinMacharia/status/2060732764954001659?s=20
Talarico isn't confused about what the Bible says.
He has a graduate degree in theological studies. He knows Jeremiah 1:5.
He knows Psalm 139.
He knows every verse Graham cited.
He looked into that camera and lied anyway – because Texas Democrats need a pro-abortion candidate who sounds like a pastor, and he's willing to be that guy.
That's not a politician with a different interpretation of Scripture.
That's a man using God's Word as a campaign prop while he works to keep abortion legal in Texas.
Franklin Graham called it an absolute lie.
He's right.
And every Christian in Texas who hears this needs to understand exactly what kind of man is asking for their vote.
Sources:
- Katherine Hamilton, "Franklin Graham Rebukes James Talarico's Claim That the Bible Is 'Silent on Abortion': 'Absolute Lie,'" Breitbart, May 31, 2026.
- Staff, "Franklin Graham Rebukes James Talarico: The Bible is Not Silent on Abortion," LifeNews.com, May 29, 2026.
- Staff, "Franklin Graham Rebukes James Talarico's Abortion Claims: 'That's an Absolute Lie,'" Charisma Magazine, May 2026.
- Paul Steinhauser, "Rising Democrat Star James Talarico Jumps into Key Senate Race in Texas," Fox News, September 9, 2025.
- Franklin Graham, "Franklin Graham: They Did the Right Thing," Decision Magazine, August 2, 2022.
- Staff, "Christian Leaders: Washington Post Abortion Bible Misreading," Fox News Faith.