The rumor gained traction as state polls consistently placed Talarico in a narrow lead over his Republican rival.
AUSTIN, TEXAS: With the midterm elections looming in less than a month, social media was flooded with unverified claims that Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico was receiving treatment at a psychiatric facility during his temporary absence from the campaign trail. The allegations quickly generated widespread speculation, necessitating a thorough investigation into their validity.
The Claim: James Talarico admitted to a mental health facility
According to the viral narrative, the state representative supposedly underwent treatment at an Ohio-based mental health center throughout September and October. This story emerged after Talarico stepped away from public campaign events for roughly 10 days.
Despite the candidate explicitly explaining to Phil Prazan of Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS that he was simply resting at home recovering from a severe case of influenza, the falsehood continued to spread.
Conservative commentators Nick Sortor and Rhein Amacher initially sparked the rumor by publishing a brief audio clip on X. The recording featured a male voice inquiring about Talarico and a female voice seemingly confirming his discharge earlier that evening.
The rumor soon metastasized across X, Facebook, and other networks, with one viral post declaring, “the flu thing was a BIG FAT LIE.”
Accumulating millions of views, the posts triggered polarized responses—many social media users accepted the rumor as fact, while others expressed skepticism and demanded formal verification.
Fact Check: Both Talarico and the facility debunk the rumor
Ultimately, the claim is entirely unfounded, lacking any credible proof that Talarico ever visited a mental health institution.
Representatives for Talarico, as well as officials from the Lindner Center of Hope—the specific facility implicated in the rumors—have formally refuted the accusations.
Furthermore, the timeline presented in the rumors conflicted with Talarico’s actual schedule. Investigative reports from outlets like Snopes reportedly secured visual documentation proving that Talarico remained at his Austin residence throughout the entire duration of his flu recovery.
James Talarico addresses the influenza conspiracy theories
The timing of the smear campaign coincided with a competitive phase in the race, where nearly all state polling indicated a razor-thin lead for Talarico over his Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton.
The narrative even reached the national stage when Donald Trump referenced Talarico’s absence during a Tennessee campaign rally, remarking that he had experienced “the longest flu ever recorded” and was gone for “almost 14 days.”
Addressing the controversy directly, Talarico told MS NOW, “I had the flu. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s wild that someone can just post something on the internet and then the media just runs with it.”