David French’s recent op-ed is catching some heat for essentially lionizing James Talarico.
In his Sunday New York Times op-ed, French doubled down on his stance that Talarico is a virtuous Christian man and anyone who dislikes him is just a miserable hater.
“American hatred is growing so great that partisans, perversely enough, often view kindness and tolerance from political opponents as a threat. The only good people are people who agree with them. The supposedly decent person on the other side? We have a name for him or her, a…
— David French (@DavidAFrench) March 15, 2026
The piece is paywalled, but Just the News Chief Investigative Correspondent Jerry Dunleavy posted screengrabs of the most important parts:
A really long double down on how super Christian and virtuous Talarico is, and how bad anyone who disagrees with David French on this is. No really, read for yourself. https://t.co/niHMS4L8sq pic.twitter.com/pQNBQpBiFV
— Jerry Dunleavy IV 🇺🇸 (@JerryDunleavy) March 15, 2026
“American hatred is growing so great that partisans, perversely enough, often view kindness and tolerance from political opponents as a threat. The only good people are people who agree with them,” French wrote. “The supposedly decent person on the other side? We have a name for her, a wolf in sheep’s clothing.”
“This reality came home to me once again after the column I published last week. My argument was simple: I very much disagree with James Talarico, the Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas on many important issues, most notably his stance on abortion,” he continued. “At the same time, however, I very much appreciate his condemnation of the politics of hatred and vitriol, and his appeal to the better angels of our nature is giving voters hope that this miserable political moment may one day come to an end.”
He goes on to quote Talarico’s comments on his “faith” as not just “a virtuous approach to political differences; it’s a deeply Christian approach to political differences.”
“The online response to my argument, however, was volcanic. I was accused of legitimizing heresy. Another writer said that I’d suffered an apparent ‘brain injury.’ My appreciation of Talarico’s approach even put the soul of evangelicalism at risk,” French added. “I was written entirely out of the Christian faith by angry Trumpist evangelicals.”
In his mind, the irate responses made the commenters no better than the “far-left intolerance that I’ve encountered through much of my career.”
“There are people who can’t conceive of the idea that a pro-life Christian can be a decent person, or that a person who, for example, opposes surgical and medical interventions for youth gender transition, or trans women’s participation in female sports can have any redeeming qualities at all,” he noted. “I’m fully aware that to them, I’m the wolf in sheep’s clothing because I hide what they see as religious and political extremism behind a veneer of civility and pluralism. Civility itself is a questionable value. It’s a version of ‘respectability politics’ when the times call for direct, aggressive action against your evil political opponents.”
X users couldn’t help themselves:
He continuously calls Tallarico a decent Christian religious man while refusing to address any of his political beliefs, while attacking other nameless Christians and evangelicals for their political beliefs. It’s unreal.
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) March 15, 2026
Amazing he still defends Talarico after we learned of the deceitfulness he and Colbert planned and executed with The Late Show. Some Christian values there…
— DeadYup (@DeadYup1) March 15, 2026
“In their minds I was elevating niceness over justice and righteousness” – Yes David that’s exactly right
— ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ (@GueyIncognito) March 15, 2026
Wait so when Talarico defames his fellow Christians, he’s bringing us together?
— Pudge 🏒 (@pudgenet) March 16, 2026
Virtue signaling at its finest. Wonder if he’s ever talked to a normal person. 🙄
— Dr. Michael Hunt-Hertz (@DrMikeHuntHertz) March 16, 2026
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to write. Marlee also contributes to BizPac Review.
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