Velshi Finds It Odd GOP Is Pointing Out Talarico’s Wacky Views
21st August 2026
While guest hosting All In on Thursday, MS NOW’s Ali Velshi welcomed Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico to another one of his strategy planning sessions disguised as an interview. At one point, Velshi seemed befuddled by the idea that “Most people are not losing sleep over transgender kids in sports, but they [Republicans] seem to just be stuck on this one with you.”
Velshi began by suggesting that Republicans are talking about gender stuff because they cannot talk about the economy or foreign policy, “I’ve been having conversations with people like you: Democrats who have a good chance of winning in states that have traditionally been Republican or in recent years at least have voted for Donald Trump. And I’ve had this conversation with Roy Cooper, and last night I had it with David Jolly. And there is some indication that when things are going badly for Republicans, particularly as they are now, because of the cost of living and this war that we were told we weren’t going to get involved in wars like this. Democrats have a few go-tos and they’re enjoying one of them with you. They talk a lot about transgender stuff, and they lean into that.”