Are We Really Supposed to Believe Talarico Has the Flu?

Texas State Rep. James Talarico (D-50th District), the Democrat nominee for U.S. Senate in Texas, has vanished from the campaign trail in the middle of a general election, and the flu story his campaign is offering for his absence does not hold up.

Start with the dates. Talarico hasn't campaigned in Texas since Sept. 26. His last public sighting came on September 28, at a New York fundraiser hosted by Robert De Niro. He claimed a Dallas urgent-care clinic diagnosed him with the flu on the night of September 29, and his campaign started scrubbing Texas appearances from the calendar the next day without a formal explanation. 

As for the video in which he revealed the diagnosis, he doesn't look sick, nor is he acting even remotely under the weather.

James Talarico says he's skipping an event with the Hispanic Business Council in Texas because he's "under the weather." Talarico has time to fundraise with billionaires in New York but won't show up to hear from Texans. https://t.co/NzoTKh6rj8

— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) September 30, 2026

Even more bizarre is that on Friday, October 2, the campaign posted video from a February 22 rally, an event held before Talarico had even won the Democrat nomination, and tried to pass it off as current.

Exact same post in February? https://t.co/Qd7iiK7KOa

— L A R R Y (@LarryOConnor) October 4, 2026

If his absence was legitimate, why would the campaign try to make the public think he was actively campaigning?

A campaign with a sick candidate and nothing to hide just says so. But from what I can tell, Talarico’s campaign made no acknowledgement of the illness and issued no broader public announcement about the flu diagnosis until October 6, and only after reporters began asking about his prolonged absence. A simple statement on September 29 from the campaign acknowledging an illness and temporary pause of campaigning would have been proper. Instead, more than a week passed between the alleged diagnosis and the formal acknowledgment of it. And even that raises questions. Talarico is 37 and otherwise in good health, and a healthy man that age should be over the flu in a few days. He's been gone far longer than that.

Nothing about this flu explanation adds up.

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President Donald Trump turned the absence into a national story with a late-night Truth Social post that called the candidate "TalaFREAKo" and declared him missing in action. "Bad rumors are coming out," Trump wrote, without saying what those rumors are. He asked where Talarico is and what is wrong with him, and demanded that he report immediately to a debate stage against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, whom Trump described as ready and willing, one of the best attorneys general in the country, and hopefully the state's next senator.

Paxton's campaign went on offense, too. Its statement said Talarico is asking Texans for their vote but can't be bothered to show up, contrasted Paxton working for Texans every day with Talarico hiding from voters, and said Texans deserve to know where he is. Only a couple of weeks ago, Talarico was the one accusing Paxton of ducking a debate. Now Talarico is avoiding voters entirely.

“The more Texans learn about James Talarico's radical plan to eliminate oil and gas, raise taxes, and force sex changes on kids, the more they realize they want nothing to do with him," RNC spokesman Zach Kraft told PJ Media on Wednesday. "No wonder he is running scared and hiding from Texans."

Of course, the media have rushed to assure everyone there's nothing to see here. Mediaite's Tom Durante wrote that it's unclear what rumors Trump means, and that outlets have widely reported Talarico has the flu and is taking time off to recover. While technically true, repeating the campaign's dubious explanation doesn't exactly prove it.

Whatever the cause, a campaign’s basic math hasn't changed. The final month is when candidates want every camera, every stage, and every handshake they can get. With a month to go before the election, pulling the candidate from the trail is odd and, at the least, reflects panic over something.

Editor’s Note: The 2026 Midterms will determine the fate of President Trump’s America First agenda. Republicans must maintain control of both chambers of Congress.

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