Over the weekend, right-wingers spun an unsubstantiated claim that James Talarico was missing from the campaign trail because he checked into an Ohio mental-health facility after suffering a breakdown.
On Sept. 30, Talarico called in remotely to a meeting of the U.S. Hispanic Business Council (USHBC), saying he was appearing virtually because he had been diagnosed with the flu. The Austin-area state rep’s last in-person campaign appearance before getting sick was at a Sept. 28 fundraiser in New York City with actor Robert De Niro.
Unsatisfied with that explanation, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton — Talarico’s GOP rival — fed into the growing conspiracy over the past week and a half by posting mock missing posters about his opponent.
“James Talarico claims he was missing for 13 days because he had the ‘flu.’ Who actually believes that?” Paxton tweeted Saturday.
“You haven’t seen him in a couple of weeks,” President Donald Trump said at his San Antonio rally on Wednesday. “I hear the guy has disappeared. Nobody knows. You know where he is?”
Apparently, the explanation provided by Talarico himself wasn’t good enough, so Republicans had to invent their own.
On Sunday, right-wing media personality Nick Sortor released an audio recording on X that he claimed “proved” that “the ‘flu’ thing was a BIG FAT LIE.” Sortor called the supposed bombshell news “disqualifying,” adding it’s “time to drop out, Talarico.”
The recording allegedly captured Sortor and self-described ‘right-wing provocateur’ Rhein Amacher speaking with an employee of the Lindner Center of Hope near Cincinnati. In the clip, the purported employee said they couldn’t find a James Talarico in the system, which the person said could be because he’d been discharged “that evening” as a patient.
Conservatives took this response as “proof” that Talarico had been a patient there. Many were quick to seize on the recording, making the tweet go viral in the MAGA-sphere. Even billionaire Trump ally Elon Musk expressed shock in a reply to the post.
There was just one problem: Talarico had already been documented campaigning in Texas all weekend, attending Austin City Limits Friday and meeting country star Kacey Musgraves at the Dallas stop of her Middle of Nowhere Tour on Saturday.
“Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today,” Talarico spokesperson JT Ennis posted on X Friday afternoon, alongside a video of Talarico at the festival.
As another inconvenient detail, the Lindner Center of Hope issued a statement Sunday saying Talarico had never been a patient there.
In response, Talarico added that “never even been to Ohio.”
Now why go spoiling all their fun with a heavy dose of reality?
In his first interview since recovering and returning to the campaign trail, Talarico — who has Type 1 Diabetes — accused Republicans of weaponizing his bout with the flu.
“I honestly didn’t think it was going to become a whole thing,” he said.
“I had the flu,” Talarico said in an exclusive interview with MS NOW. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s wild that someone can just post something on the internet and then the media just runs with it.”
The road to recovery after suffering from the flu is generally longer for those who live with Type 1 diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Democrat dismissed the hullabaloo as “silly season in our politics” before turning the accusation back on Paxton.
“I’ve heard credible reports that Ken Paxton has a serious medical condition that causes clinical levels of cowardice,” Talarico joked during his first nationally televised interview since returning to the campaign trail.
In the interview, Talarico noted that for 85 days, he has repeatedly extended invitations to Paxton to debate him publicly — something the Republican’s campaign has ignored or rejected.
While Talarico was ill, Trump posted on social media that “he should immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton, who is ready, willing, and able.”
Nonetheless, Paxton continues to duck the debate.
“He asked for proof of life from me. I’m asking for proof of spine from him,” Talarico told MS NOW.
On Sunday, Paxton attributed his apparent debate avoidance to being unable to “work out the details” with Talarico’s campaign.
Talarico was quick to clap back on X Sunday evening, stating “here are the details: literally any time, any place, any network.”
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