'We're all getting screwed': James Talarico says America is economically divided

A comment from Democratic nominee for Senate in Texas, James Talarico, is back in the spotlight after his Republican adversary, the state's attorney general Ken Paxton, was confirmed as his opponent in the upcoming midterms. While the political narrative in the state has largely been based on religion, Talarico argued that the real divide in America is not political or religious but economic. 

In an appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, Talarico cut through the partisan noise with a blunt message claiming that his fight was against the billionaire class, who he claimed have rigged the system. "I think of politics now less as left versus right and much more as top versus bottom. Because I just see how we are all pitted against each other," he said. "The people who are in power want to stay in power. And the best way to stay in power is to enrich the other people around you who are like you, create laws, and create a structure that allows you to maintain ridiculous wealth, suppress competition, and divide everyone to keep them distracted," Talarico argued. 

The prominent podcaster and a known Trump endorser, Rogan, immediately agreed to the Democrats' observations. "What happens if we actually loved our enemies? If we rebuilt these relationships? Who could we take on if we did it together—Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and progressives?" the Texan representative questioned. Listening to his ideology, Rogan went as far as to suggest that he run for the presidency, saying, "We need more good people like you." 

Turns out, Talarico's observations hold water as in 2025, households in the top 10% of earnings held 68% of the nation's wealth, CNN reported, citing data from the Federal Reserve. The phenomenon called the K-shaped economy became a hot topic as the gap widened in the past three years, with the rich getting richer and the lower-income groups struggling to make ends meet. The report further noted that the net worth of wealthy Americans is growing at a much faster rate with tax-friendly policies and the stock market reaching new highs. 

"We're underdogs in this fight. We're going up against these billionaire mega-donors and their puppet politicians. We're going up against a rigged system. And we're going up against a lot of money," Talarico wrote on his website, sharing the same message and agenda for his Senate race. "Those billionaires want to keep us from seeing all that we have in common. They want to keep us from realizing there's far more that unites us than divides us. Because once we do, we'll come together—across party, across race, across gender, across religion—to fix what's broken in our country and take back power for ourselves and our communities," he added. 

Talarico reflected a growing sentiment that many Americans have shared in the recent past. The May Day demonstrations serve as the latest example of people standing up to power as organizers of the loosely coordinated events protested the Trump administration's policies and what they described as a billionaire takeover of government, NPR reported. Similar protests broke out opposing this year's Met Gala after the billionaire co-founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, was announced as the sponsor of the event.