Texas Senate race centres on Talarico and transgender rights before midterms
Days before the US midterms, Trump and Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico held rival rallies in Texas, where Republican attacks focused on Talarico's support for transgender rights.
How it was covered
- Sky News was the only channel found covering it, concentrating on Republican attacks on Talarico over transgender rights and a tightening Texas race.
- Channel 5, BBC News, BBC One, BBC Two, Channel 4, GB News and ITV: not found in tracked broadcasts.
The Full Story
A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story. Facts only one channel reported are attributed to it.
Sky News reported that two rallies were held a few miles apart in Texas last night, one for Donald Trump and one for the Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, a few days before the US midterms.
According to Sky News, Trump told his rally, 'I'm going to have a tremendous win in Texas,' and hoped the support that elected him in 2024 could carry other Republicans. He asked the crowd to 'pretend I'm on the ballot.'
Sky News described Talarico as a rising star, a former school teacher and seminary student. It said his interpretation of Christianity and his support for transgender rights had put him in the crosshairs of Republican attacks.
The channel played a clip of Talarico saying: 'God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.' Sky News reported that he later said he had been provocative with that statement.
At the Trump rally, Sky News interviewed supporters who called Talarico 'a freak', 'a moron', 'weird' and 'Satan incarnate'. One woman said: 'Kids should not be able to think and just transition on their own.' When the correspondent said that was not one of his policies, the woman insisted it was.
A Talarico supporter told Sky News that he was 'a good guy' who was 'faith-based' and loved God, Texas and its people. Another attendee said the transgender population was only about 0.5% of people and argued the other side was making it a bigger issue than it was.
Sky News said places across Texas were too tight to call. It added that it would have been hard to imagine a place like this turning blue, but that looking around, it might happen.
Key Claims
Claims reported during this story's coverage, grouped by how many channels reported each one. Select a dot to see the source excerpt.
| Claim |  |
|---|---|
| Only on one channel | |
| An attendee called Talarico a manifestation of Satan. | |
| An attendee said Talarico had described God as non-binary and had later called that remark provocative. | |
| Two rallies were held a few miles apart in Texas, one for Trump and one for Democratic Senate candidates. | |
Channel Perspectives
What each channel focused on, with key quotes.
Sky News framed the race through Republican attacks on James Talarico's support for transgender rights, using a correspondent package and rally interviews. It gave considerable space to voters' hostile language while also noting a defender and the tightness of races in Texas. The tone was descriptive and cautionary about a possible Democratic opening in deep-red territory.
- “God is both masculine and feminine and everything in between. God is non-binary.”
- “He's Satan incarnate.”
- “Places across Texas are too tight to call.”
Who was on air
People and organisations each channel put on air while covering this story. Channels' own presenters and reporters are not listed. Names as transcribed, and the list can miss people.
- 15:27 GMT
James Talarico, former school teacher and seminary student
Sky News Today with Jayne Secker · Thu 29 Oct
Broadcast Timeline
News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.