This is the Sept. 23, 2026, edition of “The Tea, Spilled by Morning Joe” newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered straight to your inbox every Monday through Friday.
“A toaster is a wedding gift. A private island party paid for by a Putin-connected oligarch is something else.”
— Republican Sen. John Curtis, calling for an investigation after a Russian oligarch helped fund celebrations for Donald Trump Jr.’s wedding
A CONVERSATION WITH: JAMES TALARICO
The shooting of a Venezuelan delivery driver by an ICE officer in Austin has intensified scrutiny of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown in Texas. Democratic state Rep. James Talarico — who leads Republican Ken Paxton in the state’s Senate race 50% to 44% among registered voters in a new poll — joined “Morning Joe” today to discuss the incident, border security, and soaring costs.
MB: What questions do you have about this latest ICE shooting?
JT: ICE said they would go after criminals, but Wilber Pérez came to this country legally. He has no criminal record. Yet ICE agents shot him in the back while he was doing his job making food deliveries. We need a complete, exhaustive, transparent, independent investigation to ensure that this never happens again in the state of Texas.
WG: Americans want a secure border, but many don’t like what they’re seeing from ICE. What is your alternative?
JT: We need more Border Patrol agents. We need more immigration judges. We need to modernize our ports of entry to detect illicit substances like fentanyl, and we need to overhaul the asylum system. We deserve to know who’s coming into our country — and a safe, orderly process that ensures public safety.
WG: Gas is averaging $4.47 a gallon nationally this morning. What are you hearing from Texans about the impact?
JT: Everywhere I go across the state, Texans tell me they are struggling to survive in this economy. We’re spending our money on the basics — gas, groceries, utilities, health insurance — and this recent spike in gas and diesel prices is the straw that’s breaking the camel’s back. I rolled out a plan to immediately suspend the gas tax and the federal diesel tax, which would give Texas families immediate relief.
JL: What impact are AI data centers having on Texas communities and their energy costs?
JT: I was up in Abilene and met with residents — Democrats, independents, and Republicans alike — who are frustrated by the three giant data centers being built in their community without their consent or input. I met a mother who, with her husband, moved to Abilene and bought their dream home to raise their kids. Now their young boy wakes up in the middle of the night and thinks it’s day because of the lights shining through his bedroom window from this giant data center.
I’ve rolled out a plan to crack down on these companies. If a data center can’t pay for its own energy and water, recycle that water, and get input from the people who live there, then it shouldn’t be built.
JL: You’ve agreed to several debates with Ken Paxton, but none is on the books. Where does that stand?
JT: We haven’t received any update from Ken Paxton or his campaign. We’ve agreed to, I think, five debates as of today, and Ken Paxton has declined every single one. The people of Texas deserve an opportunity to hear directly from the two candidates seeking to represent them in the U.S. Senate.
In the meantime, we’re going to keep putting pressure on Ken Paxton and his campaign to accept a debate invitation, and I’m going to keep traveling all over the state answering tough questions from voters.
MB: You’re a seminarian and a guest preacher. How do you understand the role religion is playing in politics right now?
JT: I think just as much as people are tired of corrupt politics, they’re also tired of corrupt religion — religious leaders who use their influence to accumulate more wealth and power for themselves. But everywhere I go across Texas, I have people of faith coming up to me, even if they don’t agree with every one of my policy positions, thanking me for speaking about my faith and my values.
Religion is about reconnecting us to one another. There are going to be powerful politicians and faith leaders who use religion to divide us, and it’s up to all of us to remember that religion can be an opportunity to find our way home to each other again.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for brevity and clarity.
CHARTS OF THE DAY
Source: CNN/SSRS poll of 1,206 U.S. adults conducted Sept. 16-17, 2026. Margin of error: +/- 3.5
ON THIS DATE
On Sept. 23, 1806, Meriwether Lewis and William Clark returned to St. Louis after a two-year expedition to the Pacific Northwest. President Thomas Jefferson had commissioned the journey to find a “practical travel route across the western half of the continent.” Read their findings here.
WHAT THEY SAID
Willie Geist on Trump and Iran
“The Iranians don’t believe him. They don’t believe he has the military might or the will to annihilate Iran. This seems like a leverage play — but is Iran buying it anymore?”
Katty Kay on GOP pushback to Trump
“This is a week where a few unhappy Republicans are starting to distance themselves from the president — on gas prices, on the pomp and circumstance for President Xi, and on the need to be much tougher on him.”
Jonathan Lemire on the ICE shooting
“The officer wasn’t wearing a body camera. He’d been on the job less than a year, and there are questions about his training. We don’t have answers because, as usual, the federal agencies involved have been slow to provide transparency about who the officer was and what actually happened.”
Richard Haass on Trump’s family business
“The two issues that ultimately brought Hungary’s Viktor Orbán down were poor economic performance and corruption. You don’t have to read Foreign Affairs magazine or The Wall Street Journal to understand corruption. With the fantastic wealth accumulation by the first family while they’ve been in office, it’s a hint of what’s to come if the Democrats gain the House: massive investigations and subpoenas.”
ICE SHOOTING VICTIM BACK IN DETENTION
Venezuelan immigrant Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez is back in ICE detention today after being shot by an immigration officer while making a DoorDash delivery in Austin, Texas.
Democratic Reps. Joaquin Castro and Greg Casar plan to visit the 28-year-old Wednesday at the South Texas ICE Processing Center, as questions mount over the shooting and his medical treatment.
Garcés Pérez was shot Sunday during an ICE traffic stop. Exactly what led the officer to open fire remains unclear, and the Department of Homeland Security has not publicly explained the use of force. The officer who fired the shot was a recent ICE hire and was not wearing a body camera, according to reports.
Garcés Pérez said he was briefly hospitalized before ICE took him to a detention center. His attorney said he went back to the hospital after losing feeling in his left arm. She said the gunshot appeared to have fractured his clavicle, and he is now wearing a sling.
DHS defended his treatment, posting on X that Garcés Pérez received “some of the best medical care” in his life.
The department said he entered the U.S. illegally and had a final removal order. His attorney said he entered legally as an asylum seeker, but current immigration records are unclear in the system.
A federal judge ordered Garcés Pérez to appear in person at a hearing next week, effectively blocking his deportation until then.
EXTRA HOT TEA
$6.53
— The record-high price for a gallon of diesel yesterday
The post James Talarico joins “Morning Joe” to discuss ICE shooting, data center development, religion appeared first on MS NOW.
