KSEV Mornings · October 26, 2026 · Hour 2
James Talarico’s hidden-camera remarks on trans athletes, the Carmen Turner indictment, Zohran Mamdani’s grocery stores and Craig’s take on Trump and Nicki Minaj.
“My position hasn’t changed.” That’s James Talarico on a hidden-camera recording about transgender athletes, and Craig Coglianese played it in Monday’s second hour of KSEV Mornings, eight days before the Nov. 3 election. Craig and Wayne Dolcefino also took a call on the federal indictment of Fort Bend County Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner and asked how Democrats plan to lower prices.
“My position hasn’t changed”
In the recording, published by The Daily Wire, a supporter at a meet-and-greet asks the Democratic Senate nominee for his support. Talarico answers, “My position hasn’t changed. I still think these should be local decisions, sport by sport, athlete by athlete,” and later, “I know things are getting clipped and stuff, but my views, my position hasn’t changed.”
“What’s crazy about that is that he says stuff is getting clipped,” Craig said, meaning clips of Talarico “saying things that directly disagree with what he just said there.” Wayne guessed the supporter had paid “probably a significant amount of money” to take a picture with him.
Watch: Craig reacts to James Talarico’s hidden-camera remarks on trans athletes
Sport by sport
Wayne wanted to parse “sport by sport” and joked, “Maybe he’s talking about the chess club.” Craig laid out the argument some make, that in a sport like gymnastics a biological man may have no advantage, and said even then, if that athlete wins, “it’s still unfair.” After the break he summed up his view: “I said that I would be disappointed if I had a kid that seemed to be beating people he had a biological advantage against.” He said he’s surprised more parents of kids who dominate a sport “because they’re biologically pre-conditioned to do so” don’t feel the same way.
Paprika
That led Wayne to his son’s elementary school spelling bee. His son made the final three and went out on the very next word, which Wayne remembers as paprika. “Like he doesn’t know how to spell paprika, who cares, but I know it’s bothered him all these years,” Wayne said. Craig confessed he was a mathlete.
The Carmen Turner indictment
Caller Alan pointed to the federal indictment of Fort Bend County Tax Assessor-Collector Carmen Turner, announced Oct. 22, as a reason to pay more attention to local races. Prosecutors charge Turner with conspiracy, theft concerning federal program funds and wire fraud, alleging she hired two deputy tax clerks who were actually caring for her mother. The charges are allegations, and Turner is presumed innocent.
Wayne praised U.S. Attorney Aaron Reitz, who announced the case: “He’s a great choice for US Attorney.” He also said early numbers suggest Republicans “are gonna get swamped in Fort Bend County.” Craig compared it to Carla Wyatt: some officials have “every reason to think that they can’t possibly get reelected,” yet voters who don’t follow local races “might not even know who Carmen Turner is.” He plugged iVoterGuide.com, which lays out where candidates stand on political and faith issues.
“At least we’re not crazy”
With a week to go, Wayne asked what the conservative closing message should be. Craig said Wayne’s line from earlier in the show was a good one: “at least we’re not crazy.” Tell voters in the middle that “the flaws of politics exist on both sides, but at least the right isn’t crazy,” he said.
Craig also brought up a viral pitch from a commentator he said he doesn’t like, urging people to elect Democrats so they’ll investigate corruption in the Trump administration. Craig called it “a dumb path to a thing that I think a lot of us do want, which is less corruption in government overall,” adding, “I don’t want to vote in a Talarico to do it.”
The Mamdani grocery store
Wayne asked how Democrats would actually bring prices down: “And how do they lower the price of something in a store?” Craig: “They don’t. They’re going to raise our taxes.” Craig said the example liberals would point to is New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for city-owned grocery stores, which he called “literal communism,” and he compared it to Obamacare: “It’s the same band-aid, different version.” His forecast: “a bagel will cost $50 on the internet in a very short amount of time.” Wayne said his closing argument “would have been the things we fixed.”
Watch: Craig on the Mamdani grocery store idea and Obamacare
Trump and Nicki Minaj, take two
The hosts came back to Trump’s Nicki Minaj remark from Sunday’s rally in Michigan. “Here’s the thing I think is funny is that it was Nicki Minaj,” Craig said, because a lot of people don’t know she has become a conservative. If Trump is trying to reach young men or Black voters, Craig said, having Minaj’s support go viral is “probably not a message they’re going to disagree with.” He sometimes disagrees with Trump’s messaging, he added, “but he’s a marketing guy, right? Maybe he knows better than me.”
Watch: Craig on Trump’s Nicki Minaj mention
Wayne said the two things to watch in Texas are the Hispanic vote, and whether Hispanic voters who helped Republicans turn away from Trump in large enough numbers, and the Black vote. “They didn’t bring Obama to Michigan for nothing,” he said, and he noted reports that Talarico isn’t winning Black voters to the degree Democrats expected.
How the Mob Guys got here
Wayne, who came to Texas from Brooklyn at 14, said he’s been in journalism here for 50 years, and it started with a Jerry Lewis impression. When his advisors at UT steered him toward journalism, he told them, “I don’t care about journalism. I just wanna do my Jerry Lewis imitation.” He spent five and a half years at UT and didn’t finish. Craig left Holy Cross after landing a radio job in South Bend covering Notre Dame, skipped his finals and was given what he described as a one-semester timeout.
Taxes, and the Knights of Columbus
A listener messaged Craig a final message for voters: “If you want America to not be America anymore, vote for the left.” Wayne said it has to be one of the messages, and that he doesn’t understand the growing dependence on government. “I think government spending is so out of control. I investigate government for a living.” He wants tax policy that rewards marriage and family.
Craig shared that he recently joined the Knights of Columbus, where his job so far is setting up tables before church. When his wife mentioned that his co-host is Wayne Dolcefino, he said, people lit up. Craig said Wayne is an example of an entrepreneur who built a reputation and a business that employs people.
Letitia Plummer and the media
Before signing off, Wayne turned to the Harris County judge race, where Democrat Letitia Plummer faces Republican Orlando Sanchez, and asked whether voters know who she is. He said he hasn’t seen critical coverage of her: “I think if you search Letitia Plummer critical stories, you won’t find any.” He called it “an absolute abdication of the media’s responsibility to cover the campaign of the person who’s going to be the chief executive” of a multibillion-dollar county. Craig agreed: “A lot of media is failing us.”
Hear Craig and Wayne live weekdays from 7–9 AM Central on AM 700 KSEV, The Voice of Texas. Visit the KSEV Mornings show page for live-listening controls and more episodes. Listen live weekdays 7-9 AM CT on the KSEV app.
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