Democrats Doubt Talarico’s Flu Story Amid Mental Health Facility Claims

2 min read

Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-50th District) has faced mounting skepticism as audio surfaced suggesting he briefly stayed at a mental health facility in Ohio. The recording, released by Nick Sortor and Rhein Amacher, features a woman identifying herself as an employee of the Lindner Center of Hope, stating Talarico had recently been discharged. Screenshots of Amacher’s phone show he called the facility, raising questions about Talarico’s whereabouts during the past two weeks.

Flu Story Under Scrutiny

The Talarico campaign has denied the allegations, with spokesman JT Ennis calling the claims a ‘lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory.’ Ennis insisted Talarico spent the last week in Austin recovering from the flu. However, critics argue that the absence of video evidence or a doctor’s note weakens the flu narrative, especially in a closely contested Senate race.

Democrat Strategists Express Doubt

Former Clinton adviser Mark Penn, appearing on Fox News, expressed skepticism about Talarico’s alibi. ‘These are the final days of a hundred million campaign, a major effort, one of the most key Senate races, and your candidate disappears for 12, 13 days with no clear word, no messages, no ability to kind of send out some messages, has the flu? This doesn’t, this really doesn’t make sense,’ Penn said.

Penn, who has managed campaigns for Bill and Hillary Clinton, noted the unusual nature of Talarico’s disappearance. ‘I kind of highly doubt that it was the flu,’ he added. ‘We’ve had presidents who were shot, who gave interviews either contemporaneously or within hours, let alone somebody who got the flu and wouldn’t want to keep the momentum of his campaign going with kind of a constant flood.’

Call for Transparency

Former Democratic strategist Dan Turrentine also voiced concerns about the campaign’s handling of the controversy. He argued that if the allegations were true, the campaign should have taken a more aggressive stance. ‘My first reaction on Sunday afternoon was that if the allegations of receiving mental help were true, the Talarico campaign would be insane to think they could hide it and deny it,’ Turrentine wrote on his Substack.

Turrentine suggested that the campaign could have released a doctor’s note or an urgent care receipt to validate Talarico’s story. ‘Why did they not do a video — or videos — the last week, even if Talarico sounded like Daffy Duck, to update and say he would be back soon?’ he asked. ‘That’s exactly the right question. A nasty flu doesn’t stop a candidate from recording a 30-second video from his couch. It doesn’t stop a campaign from producing a doctor’s note or an urgent care receipt.’

Source: PJ Media

Written by

Connor Davis