Talarico’s ‘Christian’ Persona Takes Major Hit As His Pastor’s Comments Are Unearthed

A shocking hidden camera report from Townhall Media captured remarks from a reverend at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas. In the video, one of the ministers can be heard stating that some congregants wish President Donald Trump had been assassinated during the attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania. Democratic Party Senate candidate James Talarico is a longtime congregant of the church.

Rev. Dr. Jim Rigby has served as the church’s pastor for more than 35 years. Talarico has described Rigby as a mentor who baptized him as a toddler and officiated his parents’ marriage. Miller has been part of the St. Andrew’s community since the mid-1990s and was ordained there in 2014. The congregation is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.)

“We still have people in this church who wish that the young man had not just nicked his ear, but had been more successful,” Miller said in one video obtained by Townhall, which was recorded on August 20, 2026. he remark refers to Thomas Matthew Crooks, who attempted to assassinate Donald Trump at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024. Trump was struck in the ear during the incident.

Miller did not identify specific church members who held that view, and the report notes it is unclear whether Talarico is among them.

In a second clip, Miller indicated that most congregants at his church do not truly believe in Christian teachings. “If you polled our members, and asked them if they were Christian, agnostic, or atheist, the vast majority would say agnostic or atheist because they don’t buy the religion that we got from the Puritans,” he said.

Townhall noted that additional videos featuring Miller and Rigby are expected to be released.

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HIDDEN CAMERA: Pastor at James Talarico's home church ADMITS that members of the church wish Trump had been assassinated.

“We still have people in this church who wish that the young man had not just nicked his ear, but had been more successful."

“If you polled our members, and… pic.twitter.com/2BxBDLnXw6

— Townhall.com (@townhallcom) September 9, 2026

St. Andrew’s has a documented history of progressive positions. In a 2023 interview, Talarico recalled that the church was active in LGBTQ rights in the 1990s, admitted an atheist member in the 2000s, and housed an illegal alien facing deportation in the 2010s.

Talarico, a Texas state representative and student at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, has frequently cited the church and Rigby as formative influences on his faith and political outlook. He has said Rigby “showed me what it means to act with courage from the pulpit.”

Earlier in 2026, Rigby addressed a separate assassination attempt on Trump that occurred near the White House Correspondents’ Dinner in April. “You may know, if you check the news at all, there was an assassination attempt. And I know a lot of people have mixed feelings. But it’s really, really important if you’re going to be the healing agents of the world to realize that violence is not going to get rid of the problem that we have,” the minister stated in an April 26 sermon.

The Townhall report presents the hidden-camera footage as offering a direct view of statements made by a staff member at the church Talarico has called home for most of his life. Talarico has not issued a public response to Miller’s recorded comments as of the report’s publication.

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