UPDATE: Talarico says he had the flu.
JUST IN: Talarico insists he simply had the flu and was not treated for mental health https://t.co/96yJb6Z01u
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) October 11, 2026
We had quite an update on the ‘where the hell is James Talarico’ story today: he was reportedly admitted to a mental health clinic in Ohio. Talarico has been absent for days, disappearing from the campaign trail for almost two weeks, supposedly due to the flu. No one is buying that, but Nick Sortor’s call suggests there's more to it. There’s more intrigue, as detailed by Current Revolt:
Current Revolt has the full 6:40 call that is purportedly to the Lindner Center of Hope. https://t.co/fpcbxpXLQx
— Tony Ortiz (Current Revolt) (@CurrentRevolt) October 11, 2026
The caller, who is Rhein Amacher, gives his name as Tim, says he’s Talarico’s cousin, and says he’s trying to send a care package. He says he has a code. The staffer says, “Oh, okay. You have a code.” He gives four digits. She then looks for the name.
Staffer: I do not see that name here. So maybe he’s been discharged.
Rhein Amacher: Oh, okay. Do you know when he left?
Staffer: No I don’t.
Rhein Amacher: But was he there?
Staffer: He could have been. I’m not at the computer that I can pull it up and look at it. He then spells Talarico’s name and the staffer says she’ll go check on the computer. There is then a long hold.
Staffer: I do not find anyone with that name for the last four days that’s been discharged and they’re not here in the building.
Rhein Amacher: Okay, so nothing for James Talarico?
Staffer: Um, yeah.
Ten seconds later…
Staffer: Let’s see. Well, this is. What is today? Looks like he was just discharged this evening. That’s why I don’t have it.
Rhein Amacher: Oh, he was discharged then?
Staffer: Uh, huh.
“This evening” was Saturday October 10th, according to Amacher. Talarico was photographed at ACL [Austin City Limits Music Festival] in Austin on Friday afternoon, October 9th, which the campaign and the Texas Tribune both reported that day.
Rhein Amacher, who confirms the call was his, posted that the staffer said Talarico “had been discharged within the previous 24–48 hours.” Sortor’s post says “earlier this week.” Neither phrase is on the recording, leaving Texans with three timelines that don’t necessarily match.
Talarico’s last in-person event in Texas was on September 26. On September 30, he said he’d been to an urgent care in Dallas the night before and had the flu.
He wasn’t seen in public again until ACL on October 9.
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The timelines seem misaligned. That is odd. We’ll keep an eye out and issue updates as usual. The Talarico campaign responded quickly, calling this a lie meant to keep the conspiracy-theory wheel churning. It still doesn’t get to the heart of the question: where has Talarico been? Because the flu line isn’t working.
This is a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory. Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas recovering from the flu.
— JT Ennis (@jt_ennis) October 11, 2026
Joe will have more on this later, but maybe full disclosure of the medical records is in order to put this to rest.
Talafreako needs to release the medical records (if they exist at all)
— Stephen Miller (@StephenM) October 11, 2026
Democrats probably shouldn’t have lied about the health of Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden
— Brent Scher (@BrentScher) October 11, 2026
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