On September 30, Texas representative James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for Senate in Texas, appeared on Zoom for a scheduled event with the United States Hispanic Business Council. He had the flu, he explained—that’s why he couldn’t make it in person. It turned out to be a pretty nasty case, so Talarico took himself off the campaign trail temporarily to recover at home.
Or so he said. Soon, rumors began flying in the MAGA-sphere. Something wasn’t adding up here; it couldn’t just be the flu, could it? Talarico was next seen in public at the Austin City Limits (ACL) Music Festival on Friday, October 9. The next night, he was at a Kacey Musgraves concert. Wasn’t a nine-day absence a bit much for the flu? (It’s worth noting that Talarico has type I diabetes, which can exacerbate flu symptoms.)
Internet sleuths got to sleuthing. Influencers got to influencing. In short order, they discovered the truth, as they saw it: Talarico had been spirited away to Ohio and admitted to the Lindner Center of Hope, a psychiatric clinic outside Cincinnati. Surely this revelation would implode his campaign and hand the race to Talarico’s Republican opponent, Ken Paxton. There was much rejoicing.