"I’ve never even been to Ohio," James Talarico wrote on X on Sunday night, with a laughing emoji for good measure.
His whereabouts have become the subject of intense online speculation over the past week. Prominent conservative commentators claimed Talarico had been receiving treatment at an Ohio mental health facility; both Lindner Center of Hope and the Democrat have since said the allegation is false.
On Sunday, MAGA-supporting commentators Rhein Amacher and Nick Sortor shared posts claiming Talarico had received treatment at the Lindner Center of Hope in Ohio. By Sunday night, however, the facility had publicly denied the claim, writing on X: "Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope."
Newsweek reached out to Rhein Amacher, Nick Sortor and the Lindner Center of Hope via email for comment and is awaiting responses.
Trump's 'Missing in Action' Attack
The Texas Democrat, who is running against Republican Ken Paxton for U.S. Senate, was declared "missing in action" by President Trump last week after a flu diagnosis kept him off the campaign trail.
Recent polling has shown Talarico narrowly leading Paxton. A Trafalgar poll conducted from October 6 to 8 among 1,086 likely voters gave the Democrat a 3.5 percent lead on his opponent last week.
But as Talarico’s days away from the campaign mounted up, so too did Republican attacks. Ken Paxton's Senate campaign shared "MISSING" posters featuring Talarico. Senator Ted Cruz shared a generated milk carton image on his X account featuring a picture of Talarico and the words "have you seen this man?"
Talarico explained his absence publicly before returning to the campaign over the weekend. He said he had visited his primary care physician but was not hospitalized, describing his illness as a "nasty case of the flu."
Mental Health Claims Escalated
During Talarico's absence, some conservative commentators began publicly questioning whether the flu diagnosis was the full explanation for his time away from the campaign trail.
Trump fundraiser Caroline Wren and conservative political commentator Sara Gonzales were among the first prominent conservative voices to suggest that Talarico was not sick with the flu and instead had been checked into a mental health facility.
In a post on X on Friday, Wren shared the details of a private jet flight between Texas and Ohio, where the private inpatient mental health facility Lindner Center is located, and suggested Talarico may have been a passenger on the aircraft.
On Sunday, Gonzales wrote on her own X page: "Theoretically, if conclusive evidence came out today that a Senate candidate in the state of Texas had to be hospitalized in a mental health facility because he couldn’t handle the stress of running a campaign, would his mental fragility disqualify him from office?"
Hours later, accusations escalated when Rhein Amacher circulated a recording he said was a call to the center and claimed it supported his allegation. Nick Sortor amplified the claim in his own post on X, claiming "the flu thing was a BIG FAT LIE." Under medical privacy laws (HIPAA), healthcare facilities generally cannot confirm or deny a patient’s identity or presence to unauthorized callers. So Newsweek has not independently authenticated the recording or verified the identity of the person answering.
The Lindner Center also denied the claim Sunday night, writing on X: "Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope," while Talarico said that he had "never even been to Ohio."
Journalist Jesse Singal shared on Sunday evening on X that he had spent some time on an X Spaces audio chat room where Rhein Amacher discussed the story for roughly 80 minutes.
"When I asked Amacher what he did to confirm that what he claimed was true was actually true, he admitted to not having done any after-the-fact fact-checking work and pointed to the fact that he's a political advocate, not a journalist, and is therefore held to different standards," Singal said.
He also explained that other journalists had found "multiple red flags" in his reporting, which is why he shared it on social media and not with a media outlet.
...
Talarico Calls for Debate
As quickly as the accusation of Talarico’s mental health facility stay appeared, they were challenged.
Questions emerged from the public about why Talarico would go all the way to Ohio for treatment. There was also the issue of how he could have been discharged on Saturday when he was seen at the Austin City Limits music festival on Friday.
JT Ennis, a spokesperson for Talarico’s campaign, told Newsweek: "This is a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory. Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas recovering from the flu."
After denying the claim over the weekend that he had been in a mental health facility, Talarico turned back to his Senate campaign and called on Paxton for a debate.
In one post, he played on Paxton’s comments about his recent absence, writing: "I challenged Ken Paxton to a debate 85 days ago, but no one has heard from him. People are getting worried."
He added: "I am asking for proof of ability to debate."
Paxton avoided debating his Democratic opponents during each of his three runs for Texas attorney general in 2014, 2018 and 2022. However, calls for Paxton to participate in a televised debate have even come from President Trump and other Republicans.
Talarico "should immediately report to the Debate Stage against Ken Paxton," who is "ready, willing, and able," the president wrote last week.
But when Talarico agreed to the debate, he added "President Trump just said Ken Paxton should debate. I agree. Ball’s in your court @KenPaxtonTX."
Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.
Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Rebecca Flood and James Debens