Talarico Says Flu Caused Campaign Absence
The Facts
- Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico said Sunday that a case of the flu kept him off the campaign trail. He characterized online speculation to the contrary as "the craziest thing I've ever heard." Republican rival Ken Paxton said that he doubts Talarico's explanation.
- Over the weekend, posts by conservative influencers, including Nick Sortor, presented audio of a purported facility staffer at The Lindner Center of Hope claiming Talarico had sought mental health treatment there. Other outlets were unable to verify the audio, which Elon Musk, whose super PAC backs Paxton, amplified.
- The Lindner Center subsequently in a statement said that Talarico "has never received treatment" at the Ohio facility. Talarico responded by writing that he has "never even been to Ohio."
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The Spin
Democratic narrative
Smearing a sick candidate with invented psychiatric rumors is the move of a campaign that knows it's losing. A fabricated phone call and a flight log don't add up to evidence, and the hospital's flat denial should have ended it. Getting flattened by the flu is real, especially with Type 1 diabetes, and voters care more about costs than fan fiction.
Republican narrative
Vanishing for nearly two weeks in the closing stretch of a marquee Senate race invites questions, and a one-word excuse doesn't cut it. A candidate too sick for even a Zoom call raises fair doubts about handling the Senate grind. Any health issue big enough to erase a campaign schedule is something Texas voters deserve to know before casting ballots.
