Steve Deace drops 8 key lessons for conservatives after Zach Lahn’s stunning Iowa upset



On June 2, Zach Lahn won the Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary. Campaigning as an "Iowa First" outsider focused on water quality, reducing corporate influence, and core conservative issues, the political newcomer and farmer/businessman pulled off a shocking upset, earning about 38% of the vote in a crowded five-candidate race and narrowly beating Trump-endorsed Rep. Randy Feenstra.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace extracts “8 lessons” the political right can learn from Lahn’s stunning victory.

Lesson #1: Christian conservatives are changing from being profile-driven to issue-driven.

Deace explains that historically, Iowans have voted for people that look the part.

“We're flyover country, and a lot of times the rest of the country just kind of wants to look down and sneer at us. So understanding us — being from us, one of us — is a big thing,” he says, noting how Iowa’s longtime senior Senator Chuck Grassley has been running successful campaign ads showing him “driving a tractor” for his entire political career.

But Lahn’s victory proved that voting based on profile is “no longer the model.”

“We can now see it's a paradigm shift — that issues now matter more than the profile does,” says Deace, highlighting how Lahn “spoke to the issues” and defeated opponent Adam Steen who “represented the profile.”

Lesson #2: MAHA and Christian conservatives are the coalition of the future.

Lahn’s success was largely a result of his ability to appeal to Make America Healthy Again supporters. Endorsed by RFK Jr.’s MAHA Action PAC, his campaign zeroed in on Iowa's cancer crisis, water toxicity, and use of chemicals and pesticides in farming.

Deace predicts that the union of MAHA advocates and conservative Christians will be the right’s strongest weapon in future elections.

“You see this especially with our mamas and our nanas,” he says, noting how the government’s handling of COVID-19 created a deep skepticism that will surely continue to influence voting.

Lesson #3: Issues still trump everything.

Just days before the primary, Deace — who had earlier endorsed Adam Steen — released a last-minute video endorsement for Lahn, which he says was the “last spackle of frosting on the cake” that pushed him to his razor-thin victory.

But that’s not a pat on his own back. Lahn, Deace argues, was only in the position where he could be nudged to victory because he ran on “hard-right issues.”

“If I put that video out about Zach Lahn, but he hasn't been running all the issue ads they did the last few weeks, does it work? No,” he declares.

“They baked the entire cake. I helped them with the frosting.”

Lahn’s victory, he argues, is proof that “the number-one thing our people want to vote on is issues.”

Lesson #4: This wasn’t a 'loss' for President Trump, but one of his most impressive shows of force yet.

Many political observers and media outlets are interpreting Lahn’s win as a notable loss or setback for Trump, who endorsed Feenstra.

But Deace pushes back on that narrative. “Folks, this was actually one of the most impressive shows of force that Trump's ever had with an endorsement,” he counters.

Deace marvels that Trump was able to “[take] a candidate that his own base did not like, who saw his negatives go up by 20 points in the last three months” and “in less than four days with no major media in our state” made him jump “at least 10 points.”

“He got people to vote for a guy they didn't like because they like him more,” he says, calling it an “incredibly impressive feat.”

Even more impressive is that Trump was able to accomplish this despite rural Iowans suffering the most from the rise in diesel prices thanks to the U.S.' ongoing conflict with Iran. The fact that Feenstra only narrowly lost to Lahn is proof of how deep Iowa’s Trump loyalty runs.

Lesson #5: The generational divide is real, and it’s here.

“What we saw is Feenstra won the oldest of voters, and Zach Lahn won every other group,” says Deace.

“If you're 65 or older, you narrowly voted for Randy Feenstra, and if you were under 65, you narrowly voted for Zach Lahn,” he continues, noting that this same dynamic played out in the Thomas Massie-Ed Gallrein race.

Deace interprets this as proof of the “generational divide” within the Republican voter base.

Lesson #6: Reports of the demise of TPUSA continue to be greatly exaggerated.

Since the atrocious assassination of Turning Point USA founder Charlie Kirk in September 2025, several outlets have reported that the nonprofit, which is heavily credited with helping Trump get re-elected in 2024, is losing influence.

But Deace says Lahn’s victory debunks this claim.

Immediately after Trump endorsed Feenstra, TPUSA formally endorsed Lahn, which Deace speculates was not a counter-endorsement but rather coincidental timing.

Even though this was the first time TPUSA has ever gone against Trump, the organization stuck with the endorsement and went “all in,” with door-knockers and full effort the weekend leading up to the primary, proving TPUSA is still a strong, committed organization.

Deace calls it “a helmet sticker for TPUSA.”

Lesson #7: If you don’t come in with your money or already have high name ID, you probably can’t beat the establishment in a statewide election.

Deace argues that in today’s environment, it’s almost impossible for a first-time candidate like Adam Steen to win a statewide race unless he comes with wealth (like Lahn) or already has high name recognition — because campaigns are very expensive.

The other factor at play is Trump’s “king” power. His endorsement holds so much weight that major donors and organizations are scared to back anyone else, fearing that Trump might endorse an opponent and make the investment worthless.

That’s why Feenstra, who was “as dead as Star Wars” on the Thursday before the primary, almost won, says Deace. Trump’s last-second endorsement was powerful enough to boost him from hopeless to the narrow runner-up.

Lesson #8: Nominate candidates who energize and unify the base.

Deace argues that Lahn is a much stronger general election candidate than Randy Feenstra because Iowa Republicans have a huge built-in advantage: “over 200,000 more registered voters than Democrats.”

Feenstra, he says, “disappointed” and “dissed” the conservative base as a congressman, which would negatively affect voter turnout. At the same time, Democrats would do what they always do and call him “the worst, most Nazi, most homophobic, transphobic, racist that's ever racisted and transphobited.”

With Lahn, however, the base is actually excited and unified, meaning more Republicans will actually show up to vote in November.

“With Zach, we have a chance to control what we can control — mobilize, unite our base, inspire our base with messaging they want to vote for, not branding they want to vote against,” says Deace.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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Will the Henry Nowak scandal finally ‘light the powder keg' in Britain?



On June 1, Vickrum Digwa — the British-born Sikh man from Southampton who stabbed and killed 18-year-old British university student Henry Nowak over false claims of racism in December 2025 — was sentenced to life in prison.

The day following Digwa’s sentencing, released bodycam footage from the incident sparked a furious national uproar.

The footage captured police handcuffing and treating the dying Nowak as the aggressor based on Digwa’s false racism claim, while he repeatedly pleaded, “I’ve been stabbed,” and “I can’t breathe” — fueling widespread anger over perceived two-tier policing and racial bias in how officers responded. A particularly chilling image from the footage showing Nowak’s pale, bloodless hand in handcuffs has gone viral.

BlazeTV host Steve Deace wonders if this horrific case will finally “light the powder keg in the U.K.”

While Deace believes the outrage over the Nowak case has revitalized Reform U.K. leader Nigel Farage, making him sound like his stronger, more outspoken "Brexit-era" self again, he fears that the U.K. still lacks a strong enough political party or movement to actually ignite change — especially given the enormity of the task ahead.

“History shows Islamists don't ever just peacefully hand over cultures,” he says, speculating that to successfully uproot Islam from British culture will take far more than the current “embers of resistance.”

Co-host Todd Erzen is even less hopeful. “I don't think this is going to wake anybody up. Nobody wants to be awake. That's the thing. They want to be comfortably numb there,” he says.

Aaron McIntire agrees, noting that more Brits would likely riot over Arsenal’s Champions League loss to PSG than over Nowak’s treatment and the broader erosion of British culture by mass immigration.

“The Christian worldview does not allow for nihilism, does not allow for black pilling, but I'm just trying to analyze this realistically,” he admits. “What would you point to to say that there is an appetite?”

The only leverage the U.K. has left, says Deace, is “the zero option” — the ultimate escalation of no-limits force.

But even this method isn’t foolproof.

“Sometimes against jihadists, you don't even have that because now they're just like, ‘You know what’s on the other end of zero option? Forty vestal virgins and a law in eternity,'” he says.

Even still, he believes zero option remains the only hope of change.

To hear more of the panel’s discussion, watch the episode above.

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Democrats Worship George Floyd on Memorial Day | 5/26/26
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Democrats Worship George Floyd on Memorial Day | 5/26/26

The pro-life movement is ‘compromised’ as abortions RISE after Roe reversal



The overturning of Roe v. Wade was supposed to mark a turning point for the pro-life movement — but according to Seth Gruber, it exposed just how compromised many pro-life leaders really are.

And BlazeTV host Steve Deace could not be more disappointed.

“How is it possible after its greatest victory — the overturning of Roe — that the pro-life movement has lost so much substantial ground? How is this possible?” Deace asks Seth Gruber on the “Steve Deace Show.”

“I mean, brother, it’s so heartbreaking,” Gruber responds, explaining that the reason the pro-life movement isn’t more successful is because it has been “compromised.”


“Many RINO Republicans and … tragically, many pro-life organizations who take donor dollars from sweet little Christian grandmas who want to end abortion … are actively working against the aims of ending abortion — of criminalizing abortion,” he tells Deace.

“It’s just many pro-life establishment leaders and organizations who are too dumb or compromised to grasp what the lay Christian absolutely understands without having to think about it,” he continues.

Like Deace, Gruber had high hopes after the overturning of Roe v. Wade, but it unfortunately did not “awaken the spiritual energy and motivation of Christians and pro-life organizations in purple and red states to just go out there and criminalize it.”

And not only is abortion not criminalized, it’s getting worse.

“There are more babies getting murdered on an annualized basis every 12 months in the land of the free and the home of the brave, Steve, than there were being killed at an annual rate in the 10 years leading up to the overturning of Roe v. Wade,” he says.

However, those numbers are “just based off of what’s being reported,” as “states are not required to report their abortion data.”

“Thanks to Clinton, it’s nearly impossible to track real abortion data when it comes to the RU-486 abortion pill, which, according to Planned Parenthood’s own numbers, accounts for 70-plus percent of the total abortions,” he explains.

“700,000-plus babies every 12 months being murdered, and their bodies are flushed down toilets,” he says.

“Those abortion pill numbers are not being reported,” he adds.

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‘The march of Islam’: Chip Roy tells Steve Deace America will surpass France and England in the Islamization of the West



The debate over Sharia law, immigration, assimilation, and whether America is starting to look like parts of Europe continues to be deeply divisive.

To gauge the severity of the issue, BlazeTV host Steve Deace spoke with Texas Representative and attorney general candidate Chip Roy (R), a co-founder of the Sharia-Free America Caucus in the House of Representatives.

“How real is this, Chip?” Deace asks bluntly.

“It’s very real. Our Democrat colleagues like to dismiss it as they did yesterday in the hearing that I held on this very topic,” Roy says, referring to the May 13 House Judiciary Subcommittee hearing titled “Sharia-Free America: Why Political Islam & Sharia Law Are Incompatible with the U.S. Constitution.”

“I wanted to show that number one, we have had 5.5 million people imported into the United States from majority-Muslim countries since 9/11. That’s suicidal; it’s stupid. Number two, the Muslim Brotherhood is driving the agenda, and all of the organizations that are basically affiliates of the Muslim Brotherhood, even if they don’t want to admit it, they’re driving the agenda in a concerted and organized plan,” he explains, citing several examples of Islam’s growing influence in the state of Texas.

Deace puts the 5.5 million statistic into perspective: “That would be the 24th-largest state in the union if it was just in one location. That would be more people than live in the following places: Alabama, Louisiana, Kentucky, Oregon, Oklahoma, Connecticut, Utah, Nevada, Iowa, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, New Mexico, Idaho, Nebraska, West Virginia, Hawaii, New Hampshire, Maine, Montana, Rhode Island, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont, and Wyoming.”

But when you consider that a huge portion of these immigrants have then started families in the U.S., it gets even more alarming.

“Let’s add in the children that they have created over those last 25 years at a higher rate than we are. I promise you that number is a much higher number. Maybe you double it,” Roy says.

“That’d be a top 10 state,” Deace says.

Roy says that he’s often questioned about his commitment to the First Amendment, but these critics misunderstand his advocacy.

“I’m not telling people what they can believe or not believe. Nothing about what I’m saying is that. What I’m saying is, you can't advocate a political ideology, the stated objective of which for the vast majority of the people adherent to the religion is to undermine our civilization and destroy Western civilization,” he explains.

“It is Islam that is the inconsistent element here with our Western values, and we have to acknowledge it because you can’t win a war you don’t acknowledge exists — and one exists,” Roy continues.

Deace sums it up succinctly: “You have a right to believe what you want to believe; you don’t necessarily have a right to believe it here.”

While many, especially conservatives, are worried about illegal immigration, Deace and Roy point out that America has a “legal immigration problem” as well, specifically when it comes to Muslim migrants.

Roy points to England and France, where legal immigration from predominantly Muslim countries has significantly altered city demographics and culture.

“If we think that what’s happening in London and Paris is not happening right now on steroids, we’re crazy,” he says. “I think we will surpass how bad it is in the United Kingdom and France very quickly because people here will use the First Amendment ... as a sword that they’re actually unable to do as easily in the U.K. or France.”

Roy warns that Muslim immigrants plan “to use our own property rights” and other freedoms “against us” to build “housing communities in and around their religious centers,” which is tied to their broader plan to conquer the West.

“By far, our number one threat to our country's future ... is the march of Islam into our communities,” he comments.

To hear the full interview, watch the episode above.

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SHOCK POLL: Rubio crushes Vance 45% to 30% for 2028 — but ‘Steve Deace Show’ says it’s mostly an illusion



A May 2026 AtlasIntel national poll found that Secretary of State Marco Rubio is now leading the 2028 Republican field with 45% support, ahead of Vice President JD Vance (30%), who was leading the same poll by 24 points in December 2025.

On a recent episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace and his panel of co-hosts Todd Erzen and Aaron MacIntyre along with Rob Eno, Blaze News managing editor, addressed the legitimacy of the “Rubio surge” and what it means for the MAGA movement.

"Are we buying the Rubio surge?” Deace asks the group.

Erzen believes the Vance vs. Rubio conversation is really just an attempt to “make people care” again.

“They're clearly both decent men, capable men. But we've got a hundred other things that should be priorities other than turning this into sports radio, but this is what the entire movement does because it's not good at really doing anything else,” he sighs.

Eno speculates that Rubio’s visibility is a likely contributor to the polling numbers.

“Do I think that Rubio has surged a little bit because he's gotten the spotlight? Probably. ... Do I think that it matters right now before the midterms? Probably not,” he says.

AtlasIntel’s new polling results, he argues, are likely influenced by the age and media consumption of the voters.

Pointing to a Quantus poll that exposed a massive age split among GOP primary voters in the Thomas Massie race, Eno says there’s an “insane” difference between “old Boomers that watch Fox News and the younger, Vance-type, America First, MAGA people.”

Given Rubio’s high polling numbers, he believes that older Republicans likely dominated the survey population. But as they “age out,” we might see Vance’s number swell, as younger audiences begin to make up a larger share of the Republican primary electorate.

MacIntyre expresses skepticism about Rubio’s 15-point lead over Vance.

“I don't think that Marco Rubio is 15 points ahead at this point. I think it's closer than maybe a lot of people who think that Vance is a shoo-in would like to admit,” he says.

Deace believes that the AtlasIntel poll is less about genuine Rubio vs. Vance support and more about “dissatisfaction with the direction of the Trump administration as a whole.”

He explains that with Trump pouring almost all his “political capital” into foreign policy (Rubio’s domain as secretary of state), Rubio benefits from a clear, high-visibility message that makes him look strong, while Vance is left handling the tougher, less popular domestic issues like cutting waste and fraud. The poll, therefore, is less about the two individual men and more about where the administration is focusing its energy.

Deace reiterates Eno’s point about the deep divide among the conservative base regarding what it means to be “America First.”

“We're determining what is the base right now,” says Deace.

“This time last year, we were coming on the tail end of Trump's offensive right out of the inauguration gate. We were all very united. There was an agenda. Right now, nobody knows what the agenda is,” he continues.

But a year and a half into Trump’s second term, the conservative base is confused and deeply divided over domestic and foreign priorities.

“We're spending way more political capital on Iran and the Middle East than we were willing to spend to clean up Minneapolis, our own borders, mass deportations, or anything else, and so this has created a mass schism right down the middle,” says Deace.

“All I think this [poll] is right now is a snapshot that shows this space is very divided overall on what our priorities ought to be.”

To hear more, watch the episode above.

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Viral ‘Gays of Hormuz’ interview leaves Steve Deace speechless



A bizarre man-on-the-street interview is making waves online after comedian Lionel Leede asked a protester whether America was neglecting the “gays of Hormuz” in a fake German accent — a play on words on the Strait of Hormuz — and received earnest agreement in response.

“Isn’t it a little bit homophobic that we’re so focused on the straights of Hormuz and not the gays of Hormuz?” Leede asked the No Kings protester.

“Yes, I agree. Yes, for sure,” the protester responded.

“Why do you think they’re willing to leave the gays of Hormuz behind?” Leede asked.


“I think it’s just, historically, like, you know, gays have always been very discriminated against, which is wrong on so many levels,” she responded before he interjected, “Even in war.”

“Yeah, even in war. It just takes more reform in government, obviously, and then also educating society,” she added.

“Just feel like if we’re going to go in there, we can’t leave the gay people behind. I don’t think we should go in there at all, but if we’re going to, the gays of Hormuz, we could turn it into Fire Island,” Leede responded, to which she said, “For sure.”

BlazeTV host Steve Deace watches the clip on the “Steve Deace Show” and, without speaking a word, gets up and leaves the set.

Co-host Todd Erzen laughs, saying, “And in a German accent.”

“And they’re going to win the next election,” he adds, laughing harder.

Deace walks back in, joking that when he heard Todd say, “They’re going to win the next election,” he “sat down over in the corner there in the break room and just started sucking my thumb.”

“I don’t even know what to say,” he adds.

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Are Republicans COOKED in the midterms? 4 Blaze Media voices respond.



Despite the left’s stubborn defense of violence, lawlessness, radical ideologies, and the hollowing out of traditional institutions, Republicans are still projected to get obliterated in this year’s midterm elections.

But it’s not just forecasts pointing to grim midterm results. Blue is already encroaching on red districts.

“We just lost Donald Trump’s home state legislative district. ... That’s zapping some of my enjoyment, if not pretty much all,” BlazeTV host Steve Deace says.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace and his co-hosts Aaron McIntire and Todd Erzen sit down with Blaze News managing editor Rob Eno to discuss these bleak midterm prospects and whether any hope remains for the conservative base.

“I know it’s still seven-plus months until the midterms here, all right, but let’s just go ahead and ask the question that a lot of people are asking: Are we cooked?” Deace asks the panel.

Erzen’s response is a balance of pessimism and hope. “I guess I’ll say no,” he tells Deace.

“The left is so evil and so decadent and so dumb. Improvement has to happen, Steve, in the time frame you’re talking about, but it’s not going to take perhaps as much as we think it will circumstantially. That being said, we might be [cooked],” he explains.

McIntire is less optimistic. “As of this moment, yes,” he says bluntly.

“I just think there are too many warning signs right now and too many signs that there is no even action or intention to action within much of Congress to deliver on President Trump’s what we were told was a mandate,” he adds, arguing that “[the party] is not delivering on that mandate.”

Eno believes Republicans aren’t only cooked in midterm elections — they’re cooked in general.

“We’re going to lose the Senate and the House,” he predicts.

The list of losses for the Trump administration keeps growing, he argues, citing the ongoing war with Iran, skyrocketing gas prices, fertilizer shortages driving up food prices, and poor polling in key Senate races.

“I do not see how we get out of this, and I don’t think seven months is a long period of time. ... Unless the economy turns around, I don’t think we win,” Eno says frankly.

Erzen, however, offers a bit more optimism.

Even if the economy “doesn’t turn around” or “even gets a little worse,” he believes “two political miracles” — such as a “major arrest” of an elite tied to Epstein or passing the SAVE Act — could still change the odds in Republicans’ favor.

“People are so off-balance right now as voters. I don’t know what they think they prioritize on any given day,” he says.

But Eno pushes back on the SAVE Act’s potential impact.

“If you’ve lied to the voters, the SAVE Act saving anything has the hubris of imagining that the American people that are citizens are going to vote for this bunch of clowns, and they’re not with what they see,” he says, alluding to the widespread frustration over the administration’s broken promises on the economy, mass deportations, and avoiding new wars.

Deace largely agrees with Eno that Republicans are “cooked” in the midterms if little changes.

“I could list off a handful of things they could do that are all somewhat relatively achievable. ... But as we’re sitting here on March 27, if I listed those things off and asked you guys how many of those things you think they’re going to do, you might say one if we’re lucky — and so that’s where the ‘we’re cooked’ sits in,” he says.

To hear more of the conversation, watch the episode above.

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Shocking relics, solid history: Evidence for Christ’s resurrection keeps mounting



The cornerstone of the Christian faith — the supernatural resurrection of Jesus Christ — isn’t just a theological claim found in Scripture. An abundance of evidence tied to this miraculous event exists in historical records and relics.

On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace speaks with scholar Jeremiah Johnston, author of the recent book “The Jesus Discoveries,” to discuss some of the most fascinating discoveries connected to the life and crucifixion of Christ.

Johnston opens the conversation by displaying an exact replica of the “Codex Vaticanus” — “the oldest, most priceless Bible that we have,” he says, noting that “it was produced in 330 A.D.,” just five years after the Council of Nicea in 325.

“It's in Greek, has the Old and most of the New Testament inside of it, has the mountaintop passages of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Gospels, Paul's epistles … and this is amazing because, again, it shows the great history of our faith,” he adds.

The second artifact Johnston displays is not a replica but an actual "crucifixion nail” from ancient Rome. The 6" square shaft is bent, he says, because the Romans, wanting to “minimize movement but … maximize torment,” would “adjust the nail” during a crucifixion.

“This [nail] shows us that the archaeological testimony of what we read of how Jesus was crucified smacks of complete authenticity,” Johnston exclaims.

The third piece of evidence he displays is an image of an inscribed chalice — often referred to as the "Magician’s Cup" — that was discovered by renowned underwater archaeologist Franck Goddio during excavations in the submerged ancient city of Alexandra in the Egyptian Nile Delta in 2008.

“This is the first archaeological find that we have with the name of Jesus on it,” says Johnston.

The cup reads, “Through Christ the Enchanter.” Johnston explains the meaning behind the phrase: “Remember your Gospels. Jesus is made famous, first and foremost, before his resurrection because he could heal diseases; he could exorcise demons; and no one was more effective than Jesus. So even all around the Mediterranean world, people realize, ‘Hey, if I insert this name Jesus, powerful things happen.’”

Johnston’s book chronicles the top 10 historical discoveries that “prove and corroborate the truth claims of Christianity,” but even those examples just scratch the surface.

“It turns out that we can actually build 65 facts about the life, death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus before I ever crack open the Bible,” he says.

“If we can't believe that Jesus died and rose again based on the evidence, then please don't believe that Caesar crossed the Rubicon, because we have more evidence for the resurrection than we do for Caesar crossing the Rubicon.”

To hear more of Deace and Johnston’s conversation, watch the video above.

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David French catches flak for claiming Talarico, a pro-abortion Democrat, 'acts like a Christian'



New York Times opinion writer David French, a self-described evangelical conservative, has made a habit out of supporting radical leftists over those Republican officials who have time and again delivered meaningful results for the causes of life and liberty.

French announced in 2024, for example, that he was supporting then-candidate Kamala Harris over President Donald Trump "to save conservatism."

'French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns.'

The former National Review writer's rationale was that the GOP supposedly wouldn't survive another Trump term but could be rebuilt as a "force for genuine good" in the event that Harris — an advocate for abortion, child sex-rejection procedures, and infringements on the Second Amendment — won.

Although his propaganda didn't work in 2024, French clearly hasn't given up on promoting radical leftists and is now promoting James Talarico, the Democrat state representative hoping to succeed Republican John Cornyn in the U.S. Senate.

French — who has not only embraced homosexual "marriage" but also non-Christian speech codes about gender — claimed in an editorial on Sunday that "Talarico shines" as "one of the few openly Christian politicians in the United States who acts like a Christian, and by acting like a Christian he reveals a profound contrast with so many members of the MAGA Christian movement that’s dominated American political life for 10 years."

French proffered Talarico's Senate primary victory speech, during which he criticized competition, as an example of the Democrat's supposed Christianity in action, "right heart," and loving ways.

"I am tired of being pitted against my neighbor. I’m tired of being told to hate my neighbor. It’s been more than 10 years of this kind of politics," said Talarico. "Politics as blood sport, politics as trolling and owning, politics as total war. It tears families apart. It ends friendships, and it leaves us all feeling terrible all the time."

RELATED: Democrats swapped Crockett’s preening for Talarico’s pulpit — and it worked

Photo by Jaap Arriens/NurPhoto via Getty Image

Though gushing about Talarico's supposed Christian decency and compassionate public face, French neglected to mention any of the Democrat's nastier remarks about those political opponents and fellow Christians with whom he fundamentally disagrees.

Talarico previously suggested, for example, that Trump is a "business cheat, a pathological liar, a serial adulterer, a twice-impeached insurrectionist, a convicted felon, an adjudicated rapist," many of whose supporters "have forgotten all about Jesus."

Trump sued ABC News over host George Stephanopoulos' false on-air assertion that the president had been found civilly liable for rape. Per the terms of the late 2024 settlement, ABC News ultimately agreed to pay $15 million toward Trump's presidential library.

Despite the apparent narrowness of Talarico's love and understanding, French — making no secret of his soft spot for Cornyn and hard liking for Talarico — presented the Democrat challenger as the supposedly virtuous antithesis of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.

French's case relies not only on selective outrage and his apparent ability to judge the hearts of men but on severing both candidates from their relevant activities, namely their work in office.

"For too long we've evaluated Christians in politics primarily through their policy positions," wrote French. "Yet this is exactly backward."

French expressed outrage over Paxton's failed marriage and portrayed him as an exemplar of vice while strategically ignoring Talarico's:

  • support for the dehumanization and elimination of the unborn, as signaled by his 0% score on the Texas Right to Life's pro-life scorecard and his correlated recognition as "a Pro-Choice Champion" by the Texas Choice Tracker;
  • attempted use of scripture, specifically Genesis 2:7 and the Annunciation, to justify the slaughter of the unborn;
  • votes against sparing children from sex-rejection mutilations as well as against keeping men out of girls' sports;
  • claim that displaying the Ten Commandments in classrooms is "deeply un-Christian";
  • claim that the Supreme Court's Dobbs ruling was effectively "un-Christian";
  • claim that God is "non-binary";
  • claim that there are six sexes, despite the clear assertion in Genesis, "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them";
  • complaint that "Republican politicians are banning drag queens in the name of protecting children"; and
  • claim that "you can't call yourself a Christian and destroy God's creation with greenhouse gases."

Critics blasted French over his commentary, suggesting that his understanding of "decency" is confused if not outright deceptive.

Radio host Erick Erickson noted, "It is not decent to twist scripture to lead others to hell. It is not decent to claim whiteness itself is like a virus. It is not decent to use Christ’s conception as a justification for abortion. It is not decent to reduce women to 'neighbors with uteruses.' Only if you have been radicalized by your critics can you land at this position."

'Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape.'

"David French is endorsing a guy who wants free abortion mills in every courthouse and who also claims God is trans," wrote Sean Davis, CEO of the Federalist. "That French always saves his most demonic takes for Sunday morning columns is a pretty good indicator of who he actually worships now."

William Wolfe, executive director for the Center for Baptist Leadership, alluded to the conspiring demons in C.S Lewis' "The Screwtape Letters," writing, "Now tell them that pro-abortion, pro-child mutilation politician who preaches that God is non-binary is a 'shining' example of a Christian. Your affectionate uncle, Screwtape."

Weeks prior to French's opinion piece, BlazeTV host Steve Deace suggested that Talarico was an "object and a vessel of malevolence. All right? When he speaks, he's not deceived; he's the deceiver. ... He is who Paul would have said in Acts, 'You are a son of the devil.' He knows what he is doing."

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