Texas Democratic US Senate nominee James Talarico reappeared on the campaign trail on Friday after a nearly two-week absence, addressing speculation and criticism from political opponents regarding his whereabouts. Talarico's primary spokesperson, JT Ennis, stated on X, "Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today." The post included a video of Talarico interacting with supporters at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Talarico, who is challenging Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a closely watched US Senate contest, had not been seen publicly at a campaign event since September 26. His last in-person event was a news conference in Carrollton, Texas, where he discussed rising gas prices.
The campaign attributed Talarico's absence to a severe case of the flu, but this explanation drew criticism from Republicans, including former President Trump. Trump commented on Truth Social, stating, "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 further questioned the length of Talarico's absence, saying, "12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug. What’s going on?"
Talarico's campaign countered the narrative of his absence, noting that he attended a Zoom meeting on September 30 with the US Hispanic Business Council after canceling an in-person event. They argued that his absence should be considered closer to nine days. Talarico's last public event before his illness was a campaign event in Carrollton on September 26, and he attended a fundraiser in New York City on September 28.
The campaign confirmed that Talarico expects to return to a full in-person schedule through the weekend ahead of an October 14 CNN town hall. Prior to his illness, Talarico had completed over 100 public campaign events across Texas.