Does James Talarico think he could skate through to Election Day for a win without much notice? Or has something happened to him that prevents him from appearing in public? After more than a week off the campaign trail, people have begun to notice ... and one person in particular wants to make it into a national story.
"Bad rumors are coming out," Donald Trump said in a late-night Truth Social post about the strange absence of "TalaFREAKo," as the president calls him. It's not clear what "bad rumors" might be percolating, but it's pretty clear that no one's buying the excuse offered by the campaign:
Ladies and Gentlemen, upon information and belief, James TalaFREAKo, who is running for the United States Senate in Texas, is MISSING IN ACTION! No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him? Bad rumors are coming out. He should immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton, who is ready, willing, and able, one of the best Attorney Generals in the Country, and will soon be, hopefully, a United States Senator representing the Great People of Texas! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DONALD J. TRUMP
Ken Paxton's campaign also pounced on his absence. Just a couple of weeks ago, Talarico had accused Paxton of ducking a debate. Now Talarico appears to be ducking voters altogether, and Team Paxton unloaded on him over it:
“James Talarico is asking Texans for their vote, but he can’t even be bothered to show up. The contrast couldn’t be more clear. Ken Paxton works for Texans every single day, while Talarico hides from voters and only Texans deserve to know: Where is James Talarico?”
Mediaite's Tom Durante objected to the implications that anything is amiss:
It’s unclear what “bad rumors” Trump is referring to, but it’s been widely reported that Talarico has come down with the flu and is taking time away from the campaign to recover.
Ahem. Talarico is a 37-year-old man in good health otherwise, not Chuck Grassley at 93. How long should it take a healthy 37-year-old to recover from the flu? Two days, three tops? Talarico is in the middle of a general election to the U.S. Senate, and he's been off the campaign trail in Texas since September 26. The campaign has cancelled appearances in Texas starting on September 30.
Talarico has been missing from the campaign trail for eleven days. Did he get the Siberian Flu from the Russian bio lab? Did he fall in a hole somewhere and Lassie is still looking for Timmy?
We can be sure that this isn't the flu. What kind of flu would necessitate an absence of this length for a man in his thirties? Football players get IVs and get back in the game with the flu. All Talarico has to do is show up. Even Chuck Grassley recovers from the flu faster than this. In fact, Grassley is currently campaigning in Iowa for the Republican ticket, warning voters to elect Zach Lahn as governor, just in case:
U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley, 93, said he does not plan on dying in office. But if he did, he does not want a Democratic governor choosing his successor.
Grassley, a Republican from New Hartford, made the comments Friday night at the Republican Party of Iowa’s Reagan Dinner in West Des Moines, where activists honored the state’s other U.S. Senator, Joni Ernst, who is retiring after two terms.
That's a very good point. At the same time, Grassley has not ruled out running again in 2028, at the age of 95. If Grassley does choose to run again, you can bet that he won't take a fortnight off in the general election to recover from the "flu." As of this morning, Talarico's campaign schedule does not have a single event for the candidate planned before the election. That's not the "flu," that's the "fled."
Addendum: Grassley would have gotten my Lassie joke. Not sure about the rest of y'all.
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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