BS BULLETIN:
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Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico reappeared Friday at Austin City Limits after nine days without a public campaign appearance.
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Republican rival Ken Paxton had launched a mock missing-person tipline hours earlier, while Trump’s criticism amplified questions about Talarico’s absence.
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Spencer Pratt and other X users questioned the campaign’s flu explanation, while Talarico’s spokesperson dismissed the speculation.
The search for James Talarico is officially over.
After days of questions about the Texas Democrat’s whereabouts, the Senate candidate resurfaced Friday — not at a campaign rally or press conference, but at the Austin City Limits music festival.
And the timing was something else.
Just hours earlier, Republican opponent Ken Paxton had launched a mock missing-person tipline, complete with posters asking Texans to help locate the elusive candidate.
Paxton’s campaign even issued a tongue-in-cheek statement:
“We’ve tried posters. We’ve tried a formal proof-of-life request. Now we’re asking every Texan to help bring Jimmy home.”
Talarico had not appeared publicly in person since a September 28 New York fundraiser with Robert De Niro. He participated virtually in a September 30 event, explaining that he had contracted the flu.
His campaign maintained that he was recovering and would return to the trail over the weekend.
Then Friday afternoon, video surfaced of Talarico strolling through Austin’s Zilker Park, shaking hands and greeting festivalgoers.
Texas Tribune reporters confirmed the appearance.
Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis celebrated on X:
“Hate to disappoint the conspiracy theorists, but James is still alive and meeting with voters at ACL today.”
That didn’t exactly silence the critics.
Reality television personality Spencer Pratt, who had spent days questioning Talarico’s disappearance, immediately claimed victory.
“Dude didn’t lose a pound. 2 week flu my ass LMAO,” Pratt posted. “I smoked him out of hiding.”
His observation about Talarico’s appearance, of course, is not evidence that the candidate wasn’t sick.
But Twitchy’s collection of X reactions showed the skepticism wasn’t going away.
One commenter asked, “So where was he for two weeks?”
Another joked that Talarico canceling plans for 10 days, claiming illness and then turning up at a music festival sounded suspiciously like his own behavior in his twenties.
Other users pointed out that recovering from the flu and attending an outdoor event are hardly mutually exclusive.
The controversy had already reached President Trump, who mocked Talarico as “MISSING IN ACTION” while campaigning for Paxton in San Antonio.
Talarico’s campaign countered that the Democrat had conducted more than 100 public events and accused Paxton of avoiding debates.
The Texas Tribune confirmed Talarico’s Friday appearance but reported no evidence substantiating the more sensational rumors circulating about his absence.
For now, the Democrat is back in public, with early voting scheduled to begin October 19.
And Paxton’s missing-person hotline appears to have had a remarkably short shelf life.
Where was he for 2 weeks? Probably China.
He should have stayed missing! No one would have missed this piece of dog crap!
He was probably recovering from a drunken orgy, involving goats, with his Muslim friends.