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Progressive Talarico knifes Biden’s open border, tries moderating stance on key issues in Texas Senate race
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The Democratic nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas torched former President Joe Biden’s open borders policies as he races to clean-up past comments amid criticism he is too radical to be elected in Texas.
James Talarico hardened his stance on border security and pitted himself against the former president during a podcast interview on «Cogdell Law Uncensored» earlier this week.
The Democrat member of the Texas legislature has a far-left track record that includes calls to «tear down» Customs and Immigration Enforcement (ICE), an agency which he has called «secret police,» and claiming the border should act as a «welcome mat» for illegal immigrants.
He is now the Democratic nominee taking on Trump-backed Republican Ken Paxton in the race for a Senate seat in Texas in November.
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico addresses supporters at a rally in Houston. (F. Carter Smith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
JAMES TALARICO SAYS BIDEN ADMINISTRATION WAS CONVINCED BORDER SECURITY WAS ‘RACIST’
«I called out Joe Biden for failing to secure our southern border and I got a lot of heat from my own party for doing that,» he told podcaster and attorney Dan Cogdell. «But I remember talking with my colleagues in the legislature who represent border communities and they told me about the utter chaos caused by President Biden’s policies.»
Those calls and his more moderate immigration stance emerged only after Talarico launched his Senate bid in the most populated U.S. red state where the most illegal immigration happens.
When asked repeatedly by Fox News Digital, Talarico’s campaign officials could not produce evidence to support the progressive candidate’s claims he was ever at odds with Biden on the issue of border security before his Senate campaign began and while Biden was still in office.
Millions of illegal aliens poured undetected into the United States during the previous presidency, while Talarico occupied his seat in the Texas House legislature.
Talarico said in the podcast: «The Democratic Party, we’re the ones that should be about making government work for people and our immigration system is a prime example of government not working for people. So I’m a border security Democrat. I believe we’ve gotta have a sane, orderly process to ensure that we know who’s coming into our country.»
President Joe Biden speaks during an official transition event to thank Ron Klain for his work and to welcome his successor Jeff Zients. (Kevin Lamarque/Reuters)
While he has accused ICE of «terrorizing our country,» called for Americans to «stand up and fight back» and in 2019 slammed Texas Republicans for passing an «anti-immigrant bill» that funded President Donald Trump’s border wall project, Talarico said on the podcast this week that public safety should be a priority.
TEXAS DEM TALARICO’S ‘CULTURE OF VIOLENCE’ REMARKS RESURFACE AS HE DENIES DEFUND POLICE TIES
«But I also think we need to keep out folks who want to do us harm, and public safety is the most important thing the government does,» he said.
Under Trump, ICE has been tasked with zeroing in on the «worst of the worst» illegal aliens for arrest and deportation, especially those with violent criminal records.
«James has never supported abolishing ICE and supports more border security — which is why he’s authored legislation to modernize our ports of entry and called for more Border Patrol agents,» Talarico’s press secretary JT Ennis told Fox News Digital.
«Both parties have failed us on the issue of immigration, so James is running for Senate to keep our country safe by deporting criminals instead of hunting down moms, babies, and small business owners who have been contributing to our economy for decades.»
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks during a runoff election night event in Plano, Texas, on May 26, 2026. (Antranik Tavitian/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Speaking to Cogdell, Talarico also pitched himself as a defender of the Second Amendment while simultaneously calling for strict gun control methods.
TEXAS DEMOCRATIC SENATE CANDIDATES SIDESTEP ISLAMIC TERRORISM CONCERNS FOLLOWING DEADLY AUSTIN ATTACK
«I am a believer in the Second Amendment. I don’t pick and choose between the Bill of Rights. I believe in the Second Amendment just as much as I believe in the First,» he said. «We have a right to bear arms, to protect ourselves, our families. We have a right to own weapons for sport or for hunting, but like any freedom in the Bill of Rights, it’s not absolute.»
«We’ve gotta keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals. We’ve gotta make sure that we’ve got safe storage laws and background checks so that we’re keeping everybody safe,» the candidate qualified.
He positioned himself during the conversation as a moderate Democrat, chastising people on the political left who are «trying to take away people’s guns» and people on the political right who «don’t want to see any regulations.»
MS NOW ANALYST ADMITS TALARICO ‘NOT A MODERATE,’ HAS PROGRESSIVE VIEWS LIKE CROCKETT
But only a few months ago, Talarico said he favored «red flag laws,» which allow judges to order Americans to be stripped of their firearms if they think a person is a danger to themselves or others. Talarico also once accused Republicans of loving guns more than children.
Democratic Texas State Rep. James Talarico speaks during a campaign launch rally in Round Rock, Texas, on Sept. 9, 2025. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
«You can’t be the party of freedom and control women’s bodies,» he said at a 2024 event with the Travis County Democratic Party. «You can’t be the party of family and love your guns more than our kids. You can’t be the party of faith and worship at the feet of Donald Trump.»
Ennis said that the candidate has «always believed, like the vast majority of Texans, that we must protect the Second Amendment while also enacting popular, common sense measures like universal background checks that keep guns out of the hands of dangerous criminals.»
MARK HALPERIN: IS DEMOCRAT JAMES TALARICO THE REAL DEAL — OR BETO 2.0 HEADED FOR A TEXAS FLOP?
Talarico also distanced himself from child sex change surgeries, sometimes called «gender affirming care,» and said he does not support them despite often earning criticism for his comments regarding children who identify as the opposite of their biological sex.
«I oppose gender reassignment surgeries for minors,» he told Cogdell, claiming «the people that are in power» are trying to distract from «corruption in our government.»
«So they’re gonna use a tried and true playbook to get out of this,» he said. «Distraction and division. That is how corrupt public officials stay in power.»
‘GOD IS NON-BINARY’: TEXAS DEM NOMINEE TALARICO’S PAST REMARKS ON ABORTION, RACE AND GENDER DRAW SCRUTINY
Talarico’s emphatic support for transgender children has raised eyebrows since he’s entered the national spotlight.
He has said he loves them on multiple occasions, including on a podcast in 2023 when he was asked to name something that he loved other than his friends and family.
«I love, I’m just saying this because it’s all on my mind, the trans children who showed up yesterday at the state capitol to advocate for their humanity,» he said on the Superbloom Podcast.
At the time, he had voted against a state bill to ban cross-sex hormones for minors.
Rep. James Talarico, Vanessa Fuentes and Jessica Weitz attend the Featured Session: State Of Being: How To Care in 2024 at the SXSW Conference and Festivals held at the Austin Convention Center in Austin, Texas, on March 8, 2024. (Jason Bollenbacher/SXSW Conference & Festivals)
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«I just want to say, I love you and so do a lot of people in this room, and so do a lot of people around this big state. I know it may not seem like it tonight, but you are loved beyond measure,» Talarico also said in 2023 on the Texas House floor, according to the Houston Chronicle.
«James opposes gender reassignment surgery for minors,» said Ennis. «While billionaire-bought politicians like Ken Paxton spread lies to divide Texans, James will continue to stand up against both political parties to fix this broken, corrupt political system and support Texas families.»
Paxton’s campaign did not return Fox News Digital’s request for comment on Talarico’s apparent flip-flop on the border, Second Amendment or transgender youth
border security, texas, democrats elections, immigration, joe biden, republicans, politics
Doug Burgum praises Trump’s leadership on rolling back regulations
Interior Secretary Doug Burgum thanks President Trump for his leadership in rolling back ‘job-killing, community-killing’ regulations impacting the fishing industry. He emphasizes that Trump’s actions have supported American citizens and businesses in territorial waters, from the Pacific to other regions, ensuring healthy food for the nation and creating fifth-generation family businesses.
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President Donald Trump pardoned nine people convicted of violating the Clean Air Act by tampering with diesel vehicle emissions-control systems.
On Friday, Trump announced six of the pardons on Truth Social, arguing that the men he granted clemency to were «persecuted by the Biden Administration» and punished for «fixing their car.»
Eight of the people Trump pardoned were diesel mechanics or car tuners who were prosecuted for selling and installing so-called «defeat devices» into trucks, according to a Fox News review of federal court records.
These devices reprogram trucks to bypass federally required emissions controls and suppress diagnostic warnings. Without them, many diesel trucks can enter a «limp» mode that limits speed — sometimes to as little as 5 mph — until the emissions system is restored.
President Donald Trump speaks during a rally at Mount Rushmore National Memorial on July 3, 2026, in Keystone, South Dakota. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
FORMER INDIANA REP STEPHEN BUYER RECEIVES FULL PARDON FROM TRUMP FOR 2023 INSIDER TRADING CONVICTION
Trucks can also enter this limp mode when emissions controls fail. These failures are extraordinarily common and have been causing massive headaches for truckers and farmers for years, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
People are more than willing to pay top dollar to mechanics who can do the job of disabling the emissions-limiting systems.
Matthew Geouge, one of the pardon recipients, ran two companies that sold illegal tuning devices. Just from the sale of those devices alone, his firms grossed more than $10 million, according to his December 2021 plea agreement.
Emissions-capping technology, specifically Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) systems, is also prone to malfunctions in extremely cold weather.
A tractor trailer refuels with diesel fuel at a Kwik Star gas station in Mitchellville, Iowa, on Thursday, April 30, 2026. (Bryon Houlgrave/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
TRUMP WILL WELCOME FARMERS AND RANCHERS TO WHITE HOUSE DINNER TO CELEBRATE TRADE, TAX WINS
Brad Bylsma, a state equipment fleet manager for the Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities (DOT&PF), said in March that DEF systems account for a «significant portion of our maintenance issues and costs» with state-owned diesel vehicles.
Frederic Sifuentes, the president of Alaska-based transportation service, put it more bluntly.
«The percentage of breakdowns we have here in Alaska with the DEF systems is roughly 85 percent of the time,» he said.
Another pardon recipient, MacKenzie «Mac» Spurlock, was a mechanic in Alaska who modified emissions controls on vehicles for exactly this reason, according to Senator Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska.
«Four years ago, about 30 armed EPA agents conducted a military-style tactical raid of Matanuska Diesel, owned by Mac Spurlock — a devoted husband and father, small business owner, and veteran of the Alaska Air National Guard,» Sullivan said in a statement celebrating Spurlock’s pardon.
Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-AK) speaks during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on April 30, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
«His shop had assisted trucking businesses by modifying several diesel emissions-control systems mandated by a one-size-fits-all Obama-era emissions regulation, ensuring the vehicles wouldn’t shut down in Alaska’s harsh, subzero conditions,» Sullivan added.
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The other men who received pardons for similar conduct included Ryan and Wade Lalone, Tim Clancy, Joshua Davis, Barry Pierce, Aaron Rudolf, and Jonathan Achtemeier, CBS News reported.
In late January 2026, the Trump administration announced it would no longer pursue criminal charges for manufacturers, distributors and users of defeat devices. Civil penalties could still apply.
politics, justice department, diesel, donald trump, pollution
En América Latina la población vivió dos años consecutivos de epidemia de dengue sin precedentes. Este año, los casos bajaron un 64% respecto al mismo período de 2025, según la última actualización de datos de la Organización Panamericana de la Salud (OPS).
Sin embargo, un panel de 17 especialistas de América Latina y los Estados Unidos advirtió en un trabajo publicado en la revista Vaccines que las condiciones que alimentaron las epidemias recientes siguen intactas: el cambio climático, la urbanización desordenada y la resistencia del mosquito a los insecticidas.
Cada vez que hay un brote de dengue, los gobiernos sacan los camiones fumigadores y refuerzan la atención médica y los hospitales se llenan de pacientes. Cuando bajan los casos, todo vuelve a la normalidad. Y así, una y otra vez, la región repite el mismo ciclo.
El panel fue convocado en Bogotá en marzo de 2025 por la Fundación de Salud de las Américas (FSA) y reunió a médicos, epidemiólogos, entomólogos y funcionarios de salud de Argentina, Colombia, México, Perú, Venezuela y Estados Unidos. Lo que encontraron no es alentador, pero sí tiene solución.
La herramienta más usada para combatir al Aedes aegypti es la fumigación química. Pero hay una intervención más barata y más duradera que debería ir primero: eliminar los lugares donde el mosquito se reproduce, según los expertos.
Recipientes con agua estancada, residuos acumulados y barrios construidos sin red de agua ni desagüe son los principales criaderos en ciudades y zonas periurbanas de la región. A eso se suma que los insecticidas pierden eficacia año a año: el mosquito desarrolló resistencia a los químicos más usados.
El ciclo reactivo tiene otra cara menos visible: si los sistemas de salud solo se mueven cuando hay brote, tampoco registran bien cuántas personas se enferman entre uno y otro.
Por eso, los expertos señalaron que las estadísticas oficiales capturan solo una fracción de los casos reales, lo que distorsiona las evaluaciones de riesgo.
En Brasil, Colombia y Nicaragua, los análisis calculan que los contagios reales pueden ser entre 10 y 25 veces más altos que los que aparecen en los registros oficiales. Se estima que muchas personas tienen dengue con fiebre, pero nunca llegan a consultar a un profesional de la salud y esos casos no quedan documentados.
Con insecticidas que pierden fuerza y frente a la persistencia de criaderos que se multiplican en las ciudades, el panel buscó alternativas con resultados probados. La más prometedora: liberar mosquitos infectados con una bacteria llamada Wolbachia, un microorganismo que impide que el virus del dengue se reproduzca dentro del insecto.
El Programa Mundial del Mosquito, una organización sin fines de lucro que opera en más de una docena de países, documentó reducciones en la incidencia de la enfermedad superiores al 90% en Medellín y Río de Janeiro tras liberar mosquitos con esa bacteria en zonas urbanas.
La inversión inicial se recupera en aproximadamente 20 meses y el efecto dura más de diez años, porque la bacteria pasa de generación en generación entre los mosquitos sin necesidad de nuevas intervenciones.
El dengue tiene un enemigo que no vuela ni pica: la falta de voluntad política sostenida. Los expertos describieron un patrón que se repite en toda la región: el interés de los gobiernos sube cuando hay brotes y se evapora entre uno y otro.
Los programas de control sufren recortes crónicos, con presupuestos atados a las prioridades de los donantes internacionales y no a las necesidades reales de cada país. Muchos dependen de fondos externos pensados para emergencias y no para la prevención a largo plazo.
Cuando el dinero llega, tampoco siempre va donde debería. El panel advierte que los recursos se destinan con frecuencia a fumigaciones reactivas en lugar de a la eliminación de criaderos en las comunidades, una estrategia más barata y más duradera.
Los hospitales reciben más fondos que los programas de manejo integrado de vectores (que incluyen las acciones coordinadas para reducir la población de mosquitos), a pesar de que estos últimos son más efectivos para cortar la transmisión.
Quienes viven en asentamientos informales, sin agua potable ni saneamiento, tienen más criaderos cerca de sus casas y menos posibilidades de llegar a tiempo a un diagnóstico.
El gasto público se concentra en ciudades grandes y hospitales, no en los lugares donde el mosquito se reproduce con más facilidad. Los gastos de bolsillo para tratar el dengue pueden empujar a familias de bajos ingresos a una situación económica aún más vulnerable.
El panel recomienda crear guías nacionales de vacunación, instalar sistemas de farmacovigilancia (que consisten en el seguimiento continuo de la seguridad de las dosis) y trabajar contra la desconfianza en la inmunización.
En diálogo con Infobae, Marisa Aizenberg, directora académica del Observatorio de Salud de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad de Buenos Aires y coautora del trabajo, explicó: “El avance del dengue en América Latina presenta picos estacionales, pero su comportamiento, marcado por una urbanización desordenada, el cambio climático y el aumento de las temperaturas, exige un abordaje sostenido de vigilancia, prevención y planificación”.
Desde una perspectiva de derechos -aclaró Aizenberg- implica comprender que “el dengue no afecta a todas las personas por igual y su impacto suele ser mayor en contextos de vulnerabilidad, donde persisten desigualdades en el acceso al agua segura, al saneamiento y a servicios de salud oportunos y de calidad”.
Por eso, “la respuesta estatal debe superar las acciones de emergencia frente a brotes y traducirse en políticas públicas integrales y sostenidas, que garanticen prevención, acceso equitativo a vacunas, diagnóstico y tratamiento, desde una perspectiva de protección efectiva del derecho a la salud, especialmente de las poblaciones más expuestas”, resaltó.
El plan del Grupo de Trabajo, que recibió un subsidio sin restricciones de la empresa farmacéutica Takeda, divide las acciones contra el dengue en tres etapas. En los primeros dos años: fortalecer el diagnóstico, actualizar los protocolos médicos y mejorar la vigilancia epidemiológica.
Entre los años tres y cinco, sugieren escalar las nuevas tecnologías de control del mosquito y desarrollar modelos que anticipen brotes con datos climáticos.
A partir del año seis: convertir todo eso en políticas de Estado permanentes, con coordinación regional como base, porque el dengue, como el mosquito que lo transmite, no entiende de fronteras.
Aedes albopictus,mosquito,insecto,vector,enfermedad,salud pública,picadura,zika,dengue,chikungunya
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Pro-Trump artist unleashes powerful message about American flag, touts massive Old Glory painting
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Patriotic artist Scott LoBaido is putting the finishing touches on what he calls the largest oil-on-canvas portrait ever of Old Glory at the Great American State Fair in D.C., but the outspoken Trump supporter says the message behind the massive American flag is completely apolitical.
LoBaido told Fox News Digital the American flag «does not belong to any particular party» as he painted the 9-by-17-foot flag at the Made in America Pavilion during the Great American State Fair in the nation’s capital, part of the broader celebration surrounding America’s 250th birthday.
The Staten Island artist said he believes the piece may be the largest oil-on-canvas American flag ever created.
«I am a political person, but that’s irrelevant from this,» LoBaido said. «This flag is for everybody.»
HOA THREATENS AMERICAN FLAG-FLYING HOMEOWNERS AS THEY FIGHT FOR OLD GLORY BEFORE NATION’S 250TH BIRTHDAY
Paintings by Scott LoBaido on display at the Great American State Fair. (Jim West/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The New York-based, pro-Trump artist told Fox News Digital that some on the left «run away from the flag because they think it’s a MAGA symbol,» but LoBaido argued that view misses the point of both the flag and his painting.
«This fair right now that we are at is the perfect example, because there are a lot of Democrats that are coming through here,» LoBaido said. «And they know me, and they know my politics. And we did not have any political conversation. We spoke about the flag, the art, the meaning of the flag … how special it is that we’re at this 250th birthday party anniversary.»
LoBaido also pushed back on those who protest the country by desecrating the flag, arguing that Old Glory is what protects their right to protest in the first place.
VANILLA ICE EXPLAINS WHY HE WILL ALWAYS ‘RAISE THE FLAG’ AT HIS SHOWS AFTER DOUBLING DOWN ON FREEDOM 250 SHOW
«That American flag that men and women still die for is giving you the freedom to be whatever you want, and do whatever you want – protest whatever you want,» LoBaido added. «So that flag should always be up in the air.»
LoBaido told Fox News Digital that the size and live setting of the painting are what make the project different from his past work painting the American flag.
«I believe this is the largest American flag done with oils on canvas at the colossal canvas size of 9 feet by 17 feet,» he said. «So, right there is my biggest detailed oil painting of Old Glory.»
LoBaido added that there was no better place to create the piece publicly than at America’s 250th birthday celebration, calling the American flag itself «the greatest work of art.»
«Where better to unveil, create in public, live, this greatest work of art — not mine, but the American flag itself — at the birthday party of the greatest place in the universe, America, and its 250th birthday party?»
ARTIST PAINTS PRESIDENT TRUMP LIVE, CELEBRATING AMERICA 250 AT THE GREAT AMERICAN STATE FAIR
LoBaido expects the final unveiling to be emotional, adding that he plans to put the finishing touches on the painting on Independence Day before it eventually finds a permanent home.
Preparation work for the Freedom 250 Great American State Fair continues on the National Mall on June 22, 2026 in Washington, DC. The fair will fill the mall with 150 exhibits from all 56 states and territories from June 25 to July 10. ((Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images))
«I’m just going to put the final touches on it and I don’t know, maybe make an emotional statement, a little speech,» he said, adding that he has «a weakness for this country and the Star-Spangled Banner sung properly.»
LoBaido told Fox News Digital that he has already received interest in the painting, but he also floated one high-profile possibility of where it could wind up landing.
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«Would this not look great in the White House ballroom?» he said. «I think it would be the most beautiful painting with the gold frame on it. Who knows?»
The artist said Trump already owns several of his paintings, but joked that if the president wants this one, «he might have to open up his checkbook,» adding that he gives «a big portion» of his proceeds to charity.
america 250, arts, politics, patriotism, washington dc, american stories, watch america 250
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