James Talarico

And so I'm trying to balance running this race while also protecting them and protecting her in particular.

I don't worry about my safety.

I do worry about this democracy and whether it can sustain this level of political violence, this type of violent rhetoric.

So I worry for us as a whole.

But we take precautions to keep me and the team safe, keep our supporters safe at events.

And I have every confidence in our security team, but I have deep concerns about how we move forward together, how this American experiment continues when we handle each other so carelessly.

You had asked earlier about what's drawing people to this campaign.

You and I are both people of faith.

And we both know the importance of the sacraments, of these kind of sacred rituals, to get us in touch with God and with our own spirits.

I feel like we've got to get to a point where we treat politics as a kind of sacrament.

And I know that may seem...

You wouldn't think of sacrament and politics as being in the same sentence.

But I mean, it is sacred work that we get to do in a democracy, whether we're a candidate, whether we're someone interviewing a candidate, whether we're citizens and neighbors, like we get to shape our destinies together.

And that requires that we enter into this work with kind of a spiritual mindset.

I've said before that democracy is a spiritual practice.

And so I think if we could get to this sacramental kind of politics where we handle each other with more care, where we see each other as divine image bearers, I think that could be a game changer for this American experiment.

And not just here, but this experiment in democracy all over the world?

Yeah, well, again, my top concern is for the people around me, for my family, for our team, for our supporters.

And that's why we've taken precautions to make sure that everyone is protected.

But, you know, when I first heard that, like any human being, you know, I had a lot of emotions, hurt, anger, fear.