James Talarico built one of the most liberal records in the Texas state legislature.
Now he needs moderates to win a Senate seat.
He sat down at CNN to pull a con job with Texas voters.
What the SAVE Act Requires and What Talarico Claimed It Did
The SAVE Act – the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act – requires people to show proof of U.S. citizenship when they register to vote in federal elections. That's it – no poll tests, no literacy exams, no grandfather clauses.
Show a passport, a birth certificate with photo ID, or a REAL ID that confirms you're an American citizen.
The House passed it 220-208, with four Democrats voting yes.
James Talarico who built his career lecturing Republicans wasn't confused about any of that in August.
Standing before an audience with a microphone in hand, he declared that politicians in Washington and Austin were using the SAVE Act to rob "our neighbors, particularly our black neighbors, of those God-given rights."
That is a racial smear against a bill that requires every voter – of every race – to prove they're an American citizen before casting a ballot in a federal election.
Then Talarico walked onto CNN and played dumb.
He told Erin Burnett he supports the FAIR Voter ID instead – the version that accepts student IDs – and acted as though he never heard of the SAVE Act.
CNN anchor Erin Burnett sat across from him and offered nothing – no pushback, no follow-up, nothing that resembled a challenge.
Scott Jennings was done waiting.
Scott Jennings Calls Out Talarico Live on CNN
Jennings called Talarico out i, saying he was "so full of sh**."
https://twitter.com/ScottJenningsKY/status/2110540999345013057
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The man who months ago declared the SAVE Act a racial weapon against Black voters now wants you to believe he can't keep the bill's name straight.
Jennings later added that Talarico is "more slippery than a wet panther."
That is the most accurate description of a Democrat politician you will ever hear on CNN.
Democrats have run this play on every election integrity measure for twenty years – every one of them racist by definition, according to the same people now pretending they've never heard of the SAVE Act.
Erin Burnett let it slide. Scott Jennings didn't.
The SAVE Act just requires you to prove you're an American before you vote in an American election. Four Democrats in the House decided even they couldn't vote against that.
Talarico opposed it in August. Then he pretended that he had never heard of it.
Why Democrats Have Blocked Voter ID and Proof of Citizenship for 30 Years
The motor voter law from 1993 made it simple to register at the DMV without proving citizenship.
The Help America Vote Act from 2002 required identity and residency checks – but not citizenship.
For three decades, Democrats built a voter registration machine that deliberately bypassed the one thing the law was actually supposed to require. The SAVE Act – introduced by Rep. Chip Roy of Texas – closes the loophole.
Democrats don't oppose it because they care about protecting black voters. They oppose it because they spent thirty years building their registration pipeline around the gap – and they need that gap to stay open.
Ken Paxton vs Talarico and the Texas Senate Seat That Could Flip the Chamber
The Texas Senate race is deadlocked going into early voting.
Ken Paxton and James Talarico are tied – and control of the U.S. Senate could come down to this race alone.
Paxton's campaign has spent months pointing out that Talarico would be the first Democrat to flip a Texas Senate seat in nearly forty years.
Talarico needed one clean CNN appearance to convince Texas he was the reasonable candidate. He picked the wrong night.
Scott Jennings just handed that tape to Texas voters.
Sources:
- Jim Hoft, "Talarico Is So Full of Sh**," The Gateway Pundit, October 15, 2026.
- "House Passes SAVE Act, Which Requires Proof of Citizenship to Register to Vote," Legal Insurrection, April 2025.
- "Texas Candidate James Talarico Faces Backlash Over SAVE America Act Remarks," The Nerd Stash, August 2026.
- RNC Research, Twitter/X, August 17, 2026.
- "CNN Town Hall With Talarico Set for Same Night as Proposed A&M Debate," KBTX, September 29, 2026.