Axios tried to shame Christian U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico—and ended up exposing itself

The so-called scandal over who a progressive Christian follows on Instagram says more about lazy journalism than it does about faith or politics

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On Sunday, Axios posted a bizarre hit piece against U.S. Senate candidate and Democratic Texas State House member James Talarico. The 36-year-old progressive Christian and seminarian, they said, “follows several adult film performers, escorts and OnlyFans models on Instagram.”

State Rep. James Talarico questions the Ten Commandments bill (screenshot via Texas Legislature Online)

That’s it. That was the substance of the piece. It was a “gotcha” article that revealed nothing of value, written by Alex Thompson, the co-author of a bestselling book about the problem with Joe Biden’s age—a book that’s been panned by liberals largely because the same political reporters have downplayed or ignored Donald Trump’s age and dementia and cruelty even though those things are (and always have been) much more pressing problems.

That’s what Thompson is doing here, cherry picking a handful of social media follows as if they’re evidence of hypocrisy and acting like this is something anyone actually gives a damn about:

Talarico follows 10 Instagram accounts of women who are popular porn actors, OnlyFans models, and have accounts on escort sites, according to publicly available accounts viewed by Axios in recent weeks.

Earlier this year, he “liked” separate photos of an Austin-based Instagram account holder who also has an OnlyFans account and a page on EscortBook.com — a site that claims to be the “#1 content management system in the escort industry!”

Those photos did not include nudes, which are largely banned on Instagram.

Talarico also follows Instagram accounts of adult film actors such as @honky_tonkangel, who has nearly 250,000 followers and goes by the name Giselle Palmer.

Some accounts with matching usernames of the Instagram accounts he follows appear on sites such as datingpornstar.com and escortstate.com, while several have adult content on OnlyFans. All of those accounts include provocative pictures and some link to their other sites with explicit content, but don’t identify their holders as adult film performers.

Talarico follows thousands of people on Instagram. I guarantee you he doesn’t personally know them or look into their histories—you can’t when you’re a public figure who follows all kinds of people back, especially when some of those people have expressed support for your campaign.

Maybe this would be a story if he paid these women secretly (as Donald Trump did) or publicly liked porn videos (as Ted Cruz did on the anniversary of 9/11 no less), but he didn’t do any of that. That’s what his campaign said:

“James has never subscribed to Only Fans or an escort service,” Ennis said.

“While James was unaware of how these women make money,” Ennis said, “he does not judge them for it and will not play into an effort to smear them for clickbait articles. That’s exactly what his Christian faith calls him to do.”

The campaign said Talarico has messaged with only one of the accounts and shared a screenshot of the exchange, which was a simple “thank you” for an Instagram story appearing to promote his campaign.

That latter screenshot is how you know this is a bullshit story. Thompson posted it on X/Twitter:

That’s a perfectly normal exchange with Alice Greczyn, a model and actress who expressed support for Talarico last year. And it’s not weird she would openly support him since, in 2021, she wrote a book about growing up in evangelical purity culture and later escaping from it. (I interviewed her at the time and she was delightful.) I’m sure she’d be thrilled by an outspoken progressive pastor who pushes back against Christian Nationalism.

In fact, I asked her yesterday what she made of being dragged into this pseudo-scandal, and she quickly came to his defense:

This is the first I’m hearing of this article.

I can confirm that Instagram DM exchange. I had shared one of Talarico’s Reels, where he deftly used the Bible to show how certain Texas politicians were being un-Biblical and anti-American in their efforts to mandate the 10 Commandments being displayed in public schools. His inclusion of atheists amid the compassion he expressed, while wondering how non-Christians might feel in such classrooms, stood out to me. Talarico has consistently stood out to me for his inclusiveness, courage, and conviction. To my knowledge, he has never been a subscriber of mine on OnlyFans.

As to these scandal-seeking headlines about Talarico following prostitutes, I have three words: Jesus followed prostitutes.

No kidding. If the people you interact with on social media are now liabilities, damn near every politician could be dragged under for the fake crime of a follow. If this is what a progressive Christian sex scandal looks like, then you know his opponents are desperate.

If that particular exchange between Talarico and Greczyn—or anything like it—is the extent of how he’s communicated with supporters, then who the hell cares?! It feels very much like an opposing campaign operative fed this “tip” to Thompson, who published it without bothering to ask if it was even a relevant story.

One of the reasons Republicans might be looking for any dirt on this guy is because Talarico is really good at using the language of faith to call out Christian hypocrisy. He first got national attention in 2023 when he challenged a potential bill sponsored by State House Rep. Candy Noble that would have put the Ten Commandments in public schools. (A video is below, though you can see transcripts of their exchanges here.)

While that particular bill didn’t pass, a virtually identical one did pass this past year, and Talarico once again used his biblical knowledge to highlight Republican hypocrisy on the matter.

If you’re wondering why people are trying to take this guy down, it’s because he’s rapidly becoming a household name in Texas as a faith-based liberal who isn’t afraid to push back against religious extremism. Talarico has been praised by Barack Obama and Joe Rogan. He has more support among Democratic primary voters than Democrat Colin Allred—as well as better fundraising potential. If Rep. Jasmine Crockett doesn’t jump into this race, it may be Talarico’s for the taking, and if his opponent is someone like scandal-plagued Ken Paxton, there’s a very real chance he could win over just enough Republicans to win the general election. As The Bulwark’s Tim Miller joked, “finally a straight democratic man who can go on joe rogan and likes hot women.”

That’s why the threat of a not-weird white Christian who can comfortably speak about his faith without using it as a weapon against the marginalized poses a real challenge to Republicans. They don’t know how to fight someone like him. They can’t resort to Islamophobia or racism. They can’t pretend he’s not Christian (though they’ll undoubtedly try). They can’t understand how someone can quote scripture to defend the oppressed rather than attack them. They can’t pretend he’s not a decent dude because it’s clear that he is every time he’s on camera.

Meanwhile, the Republican leader is on the verge of pardoning a notorious sex trafficker. He’s also the guy who nominated an alleged predator to be the nation’s top law enforcement official. Hell, the entire party is rife with Nazis and bigots and lawbreakers and people who don’t care if Americans live or die. But, you know, Talarico follows some models on social media. So… same thing. #BothSides.

What Axios published isn’t journalism. It was just a hit piece disguised as news. It’s a cynical attempt to take down a candidate who scares the right kind of people: the ones who’ve built their careers pretending that Christianity and cruelty are the same thing. A few Instagram follows does not a moral panic make.

Here’s the reality: There’s nothing scandalous about Talarico. He’s a young lawmaker who follows thousands of people including those who openly support him no matter where they’re coming from. (It’s also not scandalous that New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani had the support of “Hot Girls for Zohran.”) He didn’t solicit anyone. He didn’t pay anyone off. He didn’t do what a long list of Republicans have actually done. He’s guilty of nothing except being online like the rest of us. To pretend otherwise is absurd—and, frankly, puritanical. That’s part of why so many people found this story bizarre. Axios tried to shame a guy who has built his public life on compassion, empathy, and the belief that faith should liberate instead of condemn.

Talarico’s theology is dangerous precisely because it’s inclusive. He represents a version of Christianity that actually resonates with millions of Americans who might identify as religious but are sick of the moral rot of right-wing Christian Nationalism.

This attack was a nothing-burger. If anything, it just makes Talarico look like a regular respectable politician.

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