New evidence debunks Talarico psych hospital rumor after ‘mind-numbing malpractice’ fuels firestorm
A viral rumor claiming Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico secretly spent his recent campaign absence at an Ohio behavioral health center has now been debunked — but new questions...
By Fox News · Fox News
A viral rumor claiming Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico secretly spent his recent campaign absence at an Ohio behavioral health center has now been debunked — but new questions are emerging over why evidence that could have quickly undercut the allegation was not made public as the speculation exploded online. The New York Times reported Monday that it reviewed time-stamped security camera images provided by Talarico's campaign showing the Democrat at his Austin home between Oct. 1 and Oct. 8, when his nine-day absence from the campaign trail was fueling mounting speculation about his whereabouts. The images, which the campaign provided to the Times on the condition they not be published for security reasons, offer the clearest independent evidence yet supporting Talarico's account that he was home recovering from the flu — and contradict claims that he instead traveled more than 1,000 miles away for treatment at an Ohio behavioral health center. PAXTON’S ESTRANGED WIFE BREAKS SILENCE ON TEXAS SENATE RACE AFTER 'BIBLICAL GROUNDS' DIVORCE But the revelation has also prompted criticism from some observers questioning why Talarico's campaign did not provide similarly verifiable evidence earlier, before an unsubstantiated theory about his whereabouts mushroomed across social media and was amplified by prominent conservatives. "In October of an election year, every day and every hour count as candidates do everything they can to meet with voters. So if you are out of commission for any extent of time, it's easy for voters to wonder what's going on," GOP strategist Mark Bednar told Fox News Digital. "That being said, if there's a simple explanation like an illness, it's even easier to just prove that outright to voters. If the flu was really the case with Talarico, it's mind-numbing malpractice that his campaign didn't quickly and easily demonstrate that." Washington Free Beacon investigative reporter Chuck Ross pointed to the Times report Monday, writing o…