Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico made a return to the campaign trail on Friday after being absent for almost two weeks, which had sparked some speculation and criticism from opponents about his whereabouts.
“Sorry to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is doing fine and meeting with voters at ACL today,” Talarico’s spokesperson, JT Ennis, mentioned on X.
The message included a video showing Talarico mingling with supporters at the Austin City Limits Music Festival.
Talarico is running against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in a closely watched Senate race. His last public appearance was on September 26, where he held a news conference discussing rising gas prices.
According to his campaign, Talarico’s absence was due to a severe case of the flu. Nonetheless, this extended break drew notable criticism from Republicans, including former President Donald Trump.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump remarked, saying Talarico was “MISSING IN ACTION.” He further commented, “TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days… and now, after searching for him throughout Texas, he claims to have the ‘flu.'” Trump questioned whether being away for such a length of time could be due to just the flu, suggesting there was something more at play.
In defense, Talarico’s campaign responded to the criticism by stating he attended a Zoom event on September 30, which was after he canceled an in-person event. They argued that this means he was really absent for about nine days, not twelve.
Talarico’s most recent public event was the news conference on September 26 in Carrollton, Texas, followed by a fundraiser in New York City on September 28, after which he announced he had flu symptoms.
Paxton also capitalized on Talarico’s absence, questioning it during a rally in San Antonio, asking, “Where is James Talarico?”
Looking ahead, Talarico’s campaign has confirmed he plans to resume a full in-person schedule throughout the weekend, leading up to an Oct. 14 CNN town hall event.
Prior to his illness, Talarico had reportedly completed over 100 public campaign events across Texas.
