A right-wing influencer is claiming that Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico was treated at an Ohio mental health facility, not home with the flu. The claim rests on a recorded phone call with an unnamed employee, and the Talarico campaign calls it a lie. The call also raises questions about whether the people behind it broke the law.
Nick Sortor, a conservative influencer, posted what he called a “BREAKING EXCLUSIVE” on X on Sunday. He claimed an Ohio facility “CONFIRMS James Talarico was discharged from the facility earlier this week.”
“The ‘flu’ thing was a BIG FAT LIE,” Sortor wrote.
According to Sortor, a hospital employee told him that Talarico had been a patient. He credited “reporting” by Blaze TV host Sara Gonzales and GOP fundraiser Caroline Wren. He posted a 16-second clip of the call, and the post drew about 850,000 views in a matter of hours. Neither the facility nor anyone on the record has confirmed his claim.
The Talarico campaign shot it down.
“This is a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory,” Talarico spokesman JT Ennis wrote. “Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas recovering from the flu.”
Sortor fired back at Ennis. “Reporters were staked outside,” he wrote. “You’re full of s—.”
Talarico disclosed his flu diagnosis Sept. 30. His campaign said he would return to the trail this weekend after nearly two weeks off. Paxton and President Donald Trump spent the past week asking where he was.
Even so, Republicans ran with the story.
“Whoa,” wrote Kimberly Klacik, a former GOP congressional nominee and radio host on Baltimore’s WCBM. “Mentally, Talarico is unable to handle the pressures of running for office. If the run is too tough, there’s no way he would make it as a senator. Hopefully, he drops out and gets the help he needs.”
Matt Van Swol, who describes himself as a former nuclear scientist for the Department of Energy, wrote, “Completely disqualifying to lie like that. He should drop out immediately.”
Sortor agreed. “If checking yourself into a mental facility for two weeks wasn’t disqualifying enough, LYING about it sure as hell is,” he wrote. “Time to drop out, Talarico.”
Not everyone on the right was on board. Conservative radio host Todd Starnes posted a warning shortly after the clip spread.
“For all of you aspiring citizen journalists out there: Knowingly obtaining or disclosing protected health information (PHI) under false pretenses is a criminal offense,” Starnes wrote. “Penalties for a violation committed under false pretenses include a fine of up to $100,000 and imprisonment for up to 5 years. It doesn’t matter if you are a Republican or a Democrat.”
Even Grok, the AI chatbot from Elon Musk’s company, was skeptical. Asked by a user to rate the claim, Grok noted that mainstream outlets have reported only the campaign’s flu explanation and that “HIPAA rules make such a confirmation without a verification code highly unusual.” It put the odds the claim is true at “roughly 30%.”
Far-right activist Laura Loomer also raised a HIPAA concern, saying, “If this is true, and I’m not seeing a denial from Talarico, 2 things are going to happen: 1. James Talarico is going to have to drop out of the Texas Senate race and Ken Paxton is going to win if he uses this in every ad. 2. James Talarico is going to become a multi millionaire when he sues the mental hospital for a Hippa violation and likely wins his lawsuit.” She added, “He is unfit to be a US Senator.”‘
The post ‘Whoa’: MAGA influencer’s secret Talarico call sparks outrage and HIPAA warnings appeared first on Raw Story.
