James Talarico literally disappeared from the campaign trail for two weeks, and yet most of the media and his campaign seemed to be concerned. Now, Talarico surfaces and there are even more questions than answers.

James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee in Texas, re-emerged on Friday after spending nine days off the campaign trail just weeks before the midterms, an absence which led to pointed questions from Republicans and unsettled some Democrats. Appearing at the Austin City Limits music festival in the state capital, he said that he had been suffering from a “nasty case of the flu” and had been “home sick in bed.”

His long disappearance from the campaign trail just weeks before the midterms was seized on by Republicans, including Ken Paxton, his Republican rival, who mocked his absence. And it worried some Democrats at a time when polls show Mr. Talarico in position to be the first Democrat in a generation to win a statewide election in Texas.

According to the campaign, which spent most of those two weeks recycling old campaign appearances, Talarico had the flu. Another part of the explanation is that, because he has Type 1 diabetes, recovering from flu takes longer.

Talarico’s allies also suggested his campaign needs to provide more updates on his health.

“I suppose spokesman JT Ennis should come out and update on James health,” Balderas wrote in a Slack message Wednesday. “Conservatives doubting he’s sick but conservatives leaving out the important part.”

“James is diabetic that’s why it’s taking awhile for recovery so basically conservatives and Paxton are being. very immoral [sic].”

Every explanation, such as it was from the campaign, barely passed the smell test.

First, as many have pointed out, if a candidate disappears from a campaign for even a few days, there are statements and even types of proof of life statements and/or videos. NONE of that happened. In fact, a Fox station in Austin asked his campaign directly during an interview about setting up a Zoom call with Talarico. They said it wasn’t necessary.

Quite a number of political pundits on both sides agreed that this type of radio silence isn’t good for Talarico’s campaign and it makes supporters and donors VERY uneasy.

The back channel communications must’ve been something else because suddenly Talarico surfaces at the Austin City Limits music festival.

James Talarico said that he had been sick for seven days, adding that he was feeling better and had been out earlier on the grounds of the Austin City Limits music festival greeting concertgoers and musicians. He said that he would be visiting a voter education table with some volunteers, and that he would have more events over the weekend. “We’re going up to Dallas tomorrow,” he said.

He certainly didn’t look like he’d been battling flu for two weeks. Which leads to more questions than answers.

Just two days ago, Spencer Pratt announced on X that he had sources telling him Talarico had checked into a private mental health center. And, in a follow-up post added why Talarico’s disappearance and the radio silence from the campaign raised numerous red flags.

“Every word. Every image. Every debate quip. Everything, down to the color of the font you choose, is calculated to invoke a specific feeling, and most of the time, it’s easy to decipher what the campaign is trying to convey with these choices, and that is the goal,” he explained in a post on X. “So if you find yourself confused by something happening in a campaign, and you’re thinking ‘why would they do that?’…like…’how the hell could they think going radio silent for 2 weeks is a good idea in the closing weeks of a campaign?’ They don’t think it’s a good idea. It’s because the alternative is so much worse. If you think going radio silent and getting TORCHED online for over a week in the closing month of a $400M campaign is bad…just imagine how bad the real story was.”

That’s the key. A LOT of money has been spent on this campaign. The race is tight and the home stretch for this needs to be tightly scripted and without fault. Yet Talarico dropped totally off the radar and his campaign just shrugged.

Yesterday, citizen journalist Nick Sorter issued a challenge. Tell everyone by 1pm yesterday afternoon where Talarico has really been or receipts will be dropped.

The deadline passed and Sorter along with Rhein Amachar, dropped the news that the Lindner Center of Hope in Ohio, a private mental health facility, had discharged Talarico between 24 and 48 hours earlier.  Immediately some folks cried HIPPA. Except it wasn’t Sorter or Amachar who broke the rules. Furthermore, wouldn’t it be interesting to find out who from the campaign provided them the verification code needed to ensure someone at Lindner would respond to them?

How is the campaign responding? This statement is from Talarico campaign spokesman JT Ennis.

This is a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory. Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas recovering from the flu.

Only problem with that is that there have been news crews camped out at Talarico’s home, and have seen ZERO indication that anyone was home.

If James Talarico had a mental health breakdown, he should admit it. Why? Because if he thinks a campaign is stressful, try being a full-time U.S. Senator. The voters deserve to know.

Feature Photo Credit: Antonioaesparza, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons/Cropped