I mentioned last night that we are being targeted by the FCC for the crime of interviewing political candidates, even though for years we and every other late night talk show have welcomed numerous candidates, including Donald Trump. When he was running, he was on this show two times. But now I guess he doesn't like me anymore, or the First Amendment. And so the FCC has threatened me, or threatened my show, our network, even our local ABC stations, because they want to make our editorial decisions for us, which, of course, we cannot accept. And so tonight we are bypassing the public airwaves and hosting this YouTube interview on YouTube, even though our government would clearly prefer that we not do it at all. So let's meet our guest tonight. He's a Democrat running for the U.S. Senate in a very red state. He is one of the most interesting people in politics, and we're happy to have him with us from Round Rock, Texas. Please welcome James Tallarico. Thank you. How are you? I'm doing well. Thanks for having me. This is not the first time you've been demoted to YouTube. When you were on Stephen Colbert's show. That's right. This same, very same thing happened. Why are they so scared of you? Well, they're worried that we're going to win this race in Texas. They are. But we are the underdogs until the last vote is counted. We're not just going up against the most corrupt politician in Texas. We're going up again. We're against this entire corrupt system. You may have seen that Elon Musk, the world's first trillionaire, has already dumped millions of dollars to try to defeat us in Texas, MAGA Inc., the president's dark money super PAC, spent $10 million last week to try to defeat us. And so they are terrified of this movement we're building in Texas, working people, coming together across party and race and gender and religion and culture to take on the people at the top who have been screwing us over for far too long now. I have to say, it tickles me that they're terrified of you. I mean, no offense, but you look like Richie Cunningham. It's like... I'm not very scary. You look like you're running for student council. That's right. I don't know what about this Boy Scout scares him so much. But I've been following you for a long time. I've watching your videos. I think what you're doing is great. I really do. And you hit on something that I think is very, it resonated with me because you hit on something used to be on all of the bumper stickers. It would be, what would Jesus do? And you know, I think Jesus has been co-opted by this MAGA enterprise in this way that it makes no sense when you really think about it. Would Jesus be throwing people into vans and separating them from their children? Would Jesus would be taking kids off food stamps? This is not the Jesus that I learned about growing up. And you bring it right back to the Bible, to the real teachings of Jesus, and it is very authentic. I mean, you can feel it that you know what you're talking about, that you believe what you're talking about. And I think that is so very powerful and good for you for doing that. I appreciate that. You know, I think it was Reverend Raphael Warnock who said that Jesus Christ is the most famous victim of identity theft. That the kind of religion that says you can treat people however you want as long as you have a personal relationship with Jesus, is an abomination. It is a cancer on the body of Christ. Scripture tells us that you can't love God and hate other people. You can't love God, and abuse the immigrant. You can't Love God and oppress the poor. You, you can love God. And bully the outcast. We, we spend so much time looking for God out there that we miss God in the person sitting sitting right next to us, in that neighbor who bears the divine image. I was brought up to believe that in the face of a neighbor, we glimpse the face God. Matthew 25 tells us Christians exactly how we're going to be judged and how we are going to saved, by feeding the hungry, by healing the sick, by welcoming the stranger. I often wonder what would Jesus do if he visited the U.S. Senate. I think he would tell the senators on the floor, depart from me, for I was hungry and you cut my food assistance. I was sick and you kicked me off Medicaid. I was a stranger and you deported me and my family. And then I think you would flip over those fancy desks on the door of the U S Senate and demand that we take care of all of our neighbors, especially the least of these. You see what I mean? You mentioned flipping over. This is on your website. I think this is a great slogan. I Think this would be a great bumper sticker. It's time to start flipping tables. Is this a bumper sticker? It's shaped like one. It should be. And that refers to Jesus flipping tables in the temple where there were selling things and selling, I I don't know, pigeons or something like that, right? Well, that's right. You know, we oftentimes think of Jesus as this gentle, polite, kind person, which he certainly was. No, he kicked ass. Well, when his neighbors were being hurt by powerful people, he didn't stay in his room and pray. He walked into the seat of power, and he flipped over the tables of injustice. It was an act of civil disobedience on behalf of his neighbors. And I think we all have to follow that example in this moment when so many of our neighbors are being hurt by a broken, rigged, corrupt political system. And so that's our inspiration for this campaign. And mean. And mean, too. This is mean what these people are doing. But I think also there's a point that people make, maybe misunderstanding this idea of feeding the hungry and all of these things that we all aspire to. I think even most of the people who brand themselves as MAGA, there's an insinuation that that means that these are handouts, that people are not carrying their weight, that they just want and they take. And it's just interesting because I think that's something that gets pounded into people's heads. And there are, of course, cases where that is true on all sides, but it's not as true as they think it is. Well, I had someone in Texas, it was actually on a YouTube show called Surrounded, where I sat down with 20 undecided voters in the state of Texas and had an honest conversation. And one of those voters brought up the issue of, in his words, welfare queens. And I told him the truth, that the biggest welfare queens in this country are the giant corporations that don't pay a penny in corporate taxes. That's right. That's correct. The CEOs who get to ride off flying on a private jet from their taxes, I mean, these are the people who aren't actually contributing anything, and they are taking from all of us. And so we need a senator who's going to fight back against that corrupt system. And, you know, Jimmy, the RNC convention is in my home state right now. Were you invited? You were not invited? I think I missed my invitation. It's probably still in the mail. But while corrupt politicians and their billionaire mega-donors were partying at a convention center in Dallas, our campaign brought people together across the state to collect groceries for families that are struggling. The tickets to that billionaire ball are $20,000. And so it's fitting that our volunteers collected 20,000 pounds of groceries for working Texans. That's great. So the contrast couldn't be starker. Now, in fairness, you were out here for fundraisers because, unfortunately, that has become one of the most important jobs for a politician. You have to raise a lot of money in order to... if you want to win. Well, and, you know, while Ken Paxton is in my home state, I'm an eighth-generation Texan, I thought I would come out here and visit his home state because Ken Paxton grew up here in California. And he is currently... Is that supposed to be a negative from you guys over there? My kids grew up in California. And maybe Ken Paxton should run for senator out here in California, so... Oh, he'd do great out here. Oh, I'm sure. I'm certain. But, you know, the thing about fundraising is you've got to look at where the money is coming from. You know, I don't take a dime from corporate PACs. I never have, never will. All of my money comes from hardworking Texans who are giving $5, $10, $15 at a time. And we have shattered grassroots fundraising records in this campaign. And it's a people-powered movement. People believe in you. They've tried a lot. It seems like the Republicans just cannot. You are bedeviling them in so many ways. They went on, they did this whole thing about you being vegan. They insinuated that you were- Those are fighting words in Texas. Yeah. Insinuated you were gay, this whole six genders nonsense. They said you hate Christianity. which is just crazy, and none of it seems to work. It's really, I think, a testament to the people in Texas that they're seeing this, and they're going, no, I don't buy it. I don'T. I think people are tired of politics as professional wrestling, right? These, like, these old guys lathered up in their fake tans, throwing corny nicknames at each other. I mean, these nicknams, they don't lower the price of groceries. They don't lower the price of gas. They don' lower the cost of health care. They don actually improve anybody's life. And that's why I'm in politics. I mean, the only reason I ran for office, the only reasons I'm running for the U.S. Senate is to try to love my neighbor through public policy, trying to make my neighbor's life easier and better and less stressful. You're, um... Our friend Donald Trump spoke about you this evening. I don't know if you're aware of this, but... He talks about me a lot, so I don' know if, uh... look at this guy running from texas he looks like tallarico yeah well i call him tallafrico because he is he's a he's freaky guy he's got some he's something wrong with him um he says he's misspoken or he's missed the mark on something he's spoken on everything he has no respect for jesus he has not respect for religion all of a sudden he's big religious fanatic you know he loves meat he throws up after every time he eats he gets sick and he throws up all over the place. Do you throw up all over the plate? I don't. I don' t. I am excited to announce that we have I'm a Talafico T-shirts available on our website, JamesTalafica.com. Will Trump get a cut of that? Does he get any? I mean, in fairness, you should throw him a little something. Well, it's actually the fastest-selling item on our web store. Is it really? We're grateful for the president for the nickname. He said that I'm all of a sudden a person of faith, I mean, my granddad was a Baptist preacher in South Texas. I still attend the same church where I was baptized when I was two years old. You were in, you are currently a seminarian. Is that correct? Yeah. I'm studying to become a minister like my grandad one day. And he said that I'm, he said I'm disrespecting Jesus. You want to know what actually disrespects Jesus, kicking the sick off their health care to give tax cuts to billionaires. You know what actually disrespects Jesus is bombing innocent schoolchildren in Iran and sending our brave men and women off to die in another forever war. That is what disrespects Jesus. You, um, your team made a great video about your Republican opponent, Ken Paxton. It's really like, this guy, there seems to be, his list of indictments is like a CVS receipt. It is unbelievable that this man has been an attorney general for, what, like 10 years in Texas. It's a really, like, mind-boggling. But you made this, you got this video, and I can't imagine how pleased you were. You got security video of him stealing a pen. Explain what happened here. So, yeah, if you haven't heard about this story, Ken Paxton stole a fellow attorney's $1,000 pen. It's a guy named Joe Joplin. It was a special gift from his wife, and he left it at the courthouse metal detectors in a little bin. And when he went back for it, he talked to security. They looked at the footage, and Joe Joclin recognized the thief. It was Attorney General Ken Paxton. And Ken Paxton didn't even return the pen until police got involved. And so, like I've said many times, Ken Paxton is the most corrupt politician in Texas. He will steal your tax dollars. He will steel your health care. And now we know he'll even steel your pen. You even had Joe to be part of this video that you made. Hi, I'm Joe Joplin, and I endorse James Tallarico for the United States Senate. Vote for James Tallorico. He won't steal your pen. And, Jimmy, speaking of the web store, one of our other popular items is this not-Ken Paxton's pen. Oh, I was hoping you would bring me one of these. Is this for me? Oh, great. Yes, sir, that is for you. Don't show it to Ken Paxton. All right, yeah, well, I hope he can read. I'm not sure that he can. Ken Paxton's net worth increased how much since he has been in office? 7,000%. How much does he make a year as a government salary? Less than $150,000 a year. And somehow he has how many houses? Ken Paxton now owns 15 homes. Now, in fairness, you know, people talk about equal time. I would love to have Ken Paxter on to explain his, how he's, I mean, he must be a, He should be the Secretary of the Treasury if he figured this out on $150,000. Secretary of Corruption. Ken Paxton would be an excellent choice. Have you been to any of Ken's many, many homes? I haven't. No, I haven'T. But, you know, this is exactly what people are tired of in our politics, people who run for office to enrich themselves and their donors at our expense. And Ken Paxton owns 15 homes, while most Texans can't afford one. He's become a multimillionaire on a government salary while the wages of most Texans has remained stagnant for years and for decades. He has refused to debate you, just for the record. You've offered to debate him many times. He accepts and then never schedules it? Is that how it goes? That's right. And this is supposed to be the high testosterone candidate. Let's take a look at the high-testosterone candidate. Yeah, there he is. Well, I mean, this is the problem. Ken Paxton gets rich on the public's dime and then he refuses to answer basic questions about that corruption. I mean, literally any time someone asks him a hard question, he runs away. And I mean literally runs away you can watch watch these videos of people asking him about his 15 homes asking him about the THC ban in Texas and he gets this terrified look on his face and he just walks the other way. And when I get hard questions on the campaign trail, I answer them. And that's exactly what we should expect from our public officials in a democracy. You know, it's one of the other interesting stories here is that John Cornyn, Senator in Texas, who Trump doesn't like, he decided that he was going to support this Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton beats Corny. Corny would have been a much tougher opponent, I think, probably. Everybody would agree on that. And now Trump is, I think maybe he's having second thoughts about Ken Paxton. Because this is how he's done this many times. And then they say, you can't say this, sir. That's so insulting. Please, sir, you may not like the way he looks. The fact is that some may not like the he dresses. I don't. They may not the way he talks. I can see that, you know? I'm James Tallarico, and I approve that message. I mean, you Know, Ken's own staff reported him to the FBI. His own party, his fellow Republicans, impeached him for bribery. Actually, his own defense attorney has endorsed me in this campaign. And now his biggest supporter is calling him ugly on national television. I'll just say, I mean, I know the president likes to win. He's a big winner. And if he wants to be on the winning side in this race, he is welcome to join the movement that we're building in Texas. I feel like subconsciously he has. Yeah. I mean a lot of his supporters, a lot the president's supporters have joined us in Texas and we'd love to have the man himself. Look, not that appearance means anything, But does Texas really want to have Ted Cruz and Ken Paxton as the two guys representing them in the Senate? Ted Cruz, by the way, doesn't seem... He's nervous. In fact, he's... You've got him begging now. We're at risk of losing the Lone Star State for the first time in 38 years. Ladies and gentlemen, this is an emergency. You started an emergency! Well, and I wouldn't be surprised if Ted Cruz filmed that video in Cancun. You know, the only person who has a busier vacation schedule than Ted Cruz is Ken Paxton. You may have seen this, that Ken Paxton spent the 4th of July, our 250th anniversary of independence from the British, with the British. He was in London for the 4TH of July. And, you know, I spent the Fourth of July in Austin, Texas with Willie Nelson at his annual Fourth of July picnic. So the contrast could not be more stark. Did you and Willie partake? I am declining to answer. On a serious note, they are closing voting locations in Tarrant County, which is a big county in Texas to make it harder for people to vote, which everyone should be against. That's right. It's the most un-American thing because the right to make our voices heard in the democratic process, the right To shape our own destinies, that is the most American of rights. And it's why I have fought so hard against these poll closures. In Tarrant County, which is home to Fort Worth, this is the largest swing county in the state of Texas. They are closing 92 polling locations. That's a third of all the polling locations. They claim they don't have the money for it, right? Which is ridiculous. They are trying to make it harder for people to vote in the state of Texas. They've also suspended a million voter registrations in our state. So anyone from the stateofTexas who is watching this YouTube, I'm urging you to check your voter registration online and make a plan to vote early. Yes, this voter suppression is powerful, but it is nothing compared to people power. If we all stand up and make our voices heard, We're going to win this race. Since we're on YouTube, would you mind telling people to like and subscribe? Yes, please. Like and subscribe. And then push the button. Push the little button and the thing. Yeah, yeah, yeah. All right. Well, it's great to meet you. It's so great to be here. Thanks for being here. Good luck. Thank you for what you do. Thank you so much. Thank you. James Tallarico, everybody. Vote in November.