Texas Senate Candidate Reappears After Extended Absence

Clear Facts

• Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico returned to public events on Friday after nearly two weeks away from the campaign trail.
• President Donald Trump publicly questioned Talarico’s prolonged absence, calling him “MISSING IN ACTION.”
• Talarico’s campaign stated the absence was due to a severe case of the flu and confirmed he is expected to resume a full schedule ahead of an Oct. 14 CNN town hall.

Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico appeared at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Friday. The appearance ended nearly two weeks of absence from in-person campaign events.

“Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today,” Talarico’s primary spokesperson, JT Ennis, wrote on X.

The campaign attributed the absence to a severe case of the flu. Talarico had last appeared at a public campaign event on Sept. 26 in Carrollton, addressing rising gas prices.

President Donald Trump criticized Talarico’s absence on Truth Social, accusing him of being “MISSING IN ACTION.”

“TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! Now, after looking for him throughout all of Texas, and beyond, probably even weirder places than anyone would think possible, he put out a statement that he has the ‘flu,'” Trump wrote.

“12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug. What’s going on?” he added. “We need a Senator that’s a proven Champion like one that has been, without question, the Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas, and one of the Greatest in the U.S.A.”

Talarico’s campaign pushed back on the timeline, noting he attended a Zoom meeting on Sept. 30 with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council. They argued this reduced the absence from twelve days to nine.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton also questioned Talarico’s whereabouts during a campaign rally in San Antonio, asking, “Where is James Talarico?”

Talarico’s campaign confirmed he plans to return to a full in-person schedule through the weekend ahead of an Oct. 14 CNN town hall. The campaign noted that prior to his illness, Talarico had already completed more than 100 public campaign events across Texas.

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