Senate nominee James Talarico (D-TX) drew accusations from CNN commentator Scott Jennings that he had misrepresented his own position on the SAVE America Act while speaking to a U.S. Navy veteran at his Wednesday night town hall.
When the veteran asked Talarico about the SAVE America Act — which would require Americans to prove their citizenship when they registered to vote — Talarico claimed that he did not know enough about it to speak intelligently on the topic. Talarico instead said he supports what he called “Fair Voter ID,” which would include student IDs. But as Jennings later pointed out on “CNN NewsNight,” Talarico has spoken out in opposition to the SAVE America Act, claiming it would rob Americans, “particularly our black neighbors,” of their right to vote.
Jennings brought up the Navy veteran, who had said at the outset of the exchange that he supported the SAVE America Act and wanted to know whether Talarico would vote in favor of it.
The CNN commentator posted a clip of the segment on social media, claiming Talarico “straight up LIED” to the Navy veteran.
“Talarico looked him in the eyes and said effectively, ‘I really don’t know that much about it, I don’t want to comment on things I don’t know anything about,'” Jennings said. He then noted that the Texas Democrat had given a lengthy answer on the topic in August, “trashing the SAVE America Act and claiming it was only designed to disenfranchise black voters.”
The clip then showed an earlier video of Talarico, who said, “We as human beings have the right to shape our own destinies and we do that through the vote. And so many brave Americans — so many brave black Americans have fought and died for that right. And so for politicians in Washington or Austin, as they’re now doing with the SAVE Act, they are trying to rob our neighbors, particularly our black neighbors, of their God-given rights.”
Jennings argued that Talarico’s earlier criticism undercut his professed lack of familiarity with the legislation and accused him of avoiding a direct disagreement with a veteran.
“What I learned about Talarico in that moment is that he has trouble looking someone in the eye who he knows disagrees with him and just saying, you know what? You and I are just going to have to agree to disagree on this,” he said.
Other panelists argued that Talarico had done that throughout the evening, but Jennings pushed back: “He lied to that veteran, he is more slippery than a wet panther.”
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