Fact Check: Was James Talarico being treated at the Ohio mental health facility?
AUSTIN, TEXAS: As the midterm elections are less than a month away, a rumor began circulating on social media platforms claiming that Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, following his disappearance from the campaign, was being treated at a mental health facility. The claim sparked speculation and prompted a fact-check.
Claim: James Talarico was being treated at a mental health facility
According to the viral claim, Talarico, a state representative, received treatment at a mental health facility in Ohio in September and October. The claim surfaced after Talarico disappeared from the campaign trail for nearly 10 days.
The rumor kept circulating despite the candidate telling Dallas NBC affiliate KXAS's Phil Prazan in a video interview that he'd been lying low at home due to a bout of influenza.
Two conservative influencers, Nick Sortor and Rhein Amacher, started the rumor by sharing a short audio recording on X of a phone conversation between a male voice asking for Talarico and a female voice appearing to say he was discharged earlier that evening.
The claim has spread on multiple online platforms such as X and Facebook, where one post said, "the flu thing was a BIG FAT LIE."
The posts collectively drew millions of views and sparked conflicting reactions: many appeared to believe it, while a few dismissed it as fake and called for a fact-check.
Fact Check: James Talarico and mental health facility denied the claim
The claim, however, is false, as there is no credible evidence to support the rumor that Talarico had received treatment at a mental health facility.
Talarico and the Lindner Center of Hope, the facility named in these rumors, have both denied the claim.
Additionally, the timing of the alleged discharge didn't match Talarico's schedule, and Snopes has reportedly obtained visual evidence showing Talarico was at his home in Austin every day for the entirety of his bout of flu.
James Talarico responds to flu rumors
The rumor spread ahead of the elections, and at a time when almost all polls in the state showed Talarico narrowly ahead of his Republican opponent, Attorney General Ken Paxton.
President Donald Trump also commented on Talarico’s absence during a campaign rally in Tennessee on Saturday, claiming that "he had the longest flu ever recorded. He was away for, like, almost 14 days."
“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," Talarico told MS NOW.
