AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Republican officials and conservative social media users spread unfounded rumors in recent days that state Rep. James Talarico, the Democratic nominee in a competitive Texas Senate race, had suffered a mental health crisis.
asserted
Talarico → spread → crisis
Questions about Talarico’s whereabouts began spreading after the candidate was not seen in public for nine days.
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candidate → spread → days
But he and his campaign have repeatedly attributed his absence to the flu.
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he → attribute → flu
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
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look → ’ → facts
CLAIM: Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico was being treated in an Ohio mental health facility last week.
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Talarico → treat → facility
The facility where he was said to have been treated has denied he was ever a patient there.
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he → say → ?
Both he and his campaign have said he was recovering from the flu.
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he → say → flu
Talarico has type 1 diabetes, which means he has a higher risk of developing complications from the flu.
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he → have → flu
Regardless, Talarico’s schedule doesn’t align with what was presented as evidence of his stay at the mental health facility and images reviewed by The Associated Press showed Talarico at home over several days last week.
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images → align → days
Talarico spoke at a Hispanic Business Council event on Sept. 30 by video.
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Talarico → speak → video
He said during the event that he had been diagnosed with the flu at an urgent care facility in Dallas after “starting to feel kind of under the weather a few days ago,” adding that he wasn’t there in person because he had decided to “put safety first” since he had a fever and was still contagious.
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he → say → fever
Republicans highlighted Talarico’s subsequent absence from the campaign trail from Oct. 1 to Oct. 9, noting his absence came at a critical time at the end of a competitive race.
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absence → highlight → race
His opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, described Talarico as “missing” in a series of social posts and said his campaign had requested “proof of life.”
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campaign → describe → life
President Donald Trump called Talarico “MISSING IN ACTION!” in a Truth Social post and asked: “Where is he?
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he → call → post
Among the chatter was a rumor that Talarico had suffered a mental health breakdown.
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Talarico → suffer → breakdown
Conservative social media influencer Nick Sorter on Sunday posted a 47-second audio clip on X that he said proved that Talarico had been discharged earlier in the week from Lindner Center of Hope, a mental health treatment center in Mason, Ohio.
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Talarico → post → Mason
In the clip, a woman who Sorter claimed was an employee there says it looked like Talarico “was just discharged this evening.”
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Talarico → claim → clip
But the timeline doesn’t hold up.
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timeline → hold → ?
Rhein Amacher, who describes himself on social media as a “right-wing provocateur,” said he made the call on Saturday evening.
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he → describe → evening
Talarico was seen at the Austin City Limits music festival on Friday.
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Talarico → see → Friday
On Saturday, he made an appearance at a Kacey Musgraves concert in Dallas.
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he → make → Dallas
The Lindner Center of Hope wrote in an X post on Sunday that Talarico “has never received treatment” from the facility.
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Talarico → write → facility
Talarico replied to the post, saying, “I’ve never even been to Ohio.”
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I → reply → Ohio
He included a tears of joy emoji.
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He → include → emoji
JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico, called Sorter’s claim “a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory” in an X post and wrote that Talarico had been recovering from the flu at his home in Austin.”
“I got the flu, and I’m feeling much better, and I’m glad I had a chance to recover,” Talarico said in a Sunday interview with the NBC affiliate in Dallas-Fort Worth.
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Talarico → call → Worth
He confirmed that the online rumors were “not true.”
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rumors → confirm → ?
In an MS NOW interview the same day, he called such rumors “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”
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I → call → rumors
If Talarico wins the November general election, Paxton would be the first Republican in nearly four decades to lose a Senate race in Texas. ___
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Paxton → win → Texas
The Aporia
