President Donald Trump is questioning Democrat U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico’s extended absence from the campaign trail, as Attorney General Ken Paxton’s campaign is now demanding “proof of life” from its opponent.
Talarico has not made an in-person campaign appearance in Texas since September 26, with his campaign attributing the absence to a case of the flu.
In a Truth Social post on Thursday, Trump claimed Talarico had been missing for 12 days and questioned the explanation for his absence.
“TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days!” Trump wrote. “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.'”
“12 days is a long time to rid yourself of the so-called flu bug. What’s going on?” Trump added.
The president went on to praise Paxton, calling him the “Greatest Attorney General in the History of Texas” and urging voters to support him.
The post followed another statement Wednesday night in which Trump declared Talarico “MISSING IN ACTION.”
“No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him? Bad rumors are coming out,” Trump wrote.
Meanwhile, Paxton’s campaign has escalated its criticism of Talarico’s absence, distributing mock missing-person posters across Texas and issuing a statement on Thursday demanding evidence of his whereabouts.
“With 26 days until Election Day and early voting about to begin, the Paxton campaign is calling on James Talarico to show proof of life to the 31 million Texans he’s asking to represent,” the campaign stated.
The campaign claims Talarico has not held a rally since September 16 and has not appeared in person since September 26.
Specifically, the campaign is demanding a video of Talarico holding a newspaper dated Thursday, information about his return flight from New York fundraising events, and a doctor’s note from the Dallas urgent care facility where he reportedly sought treatment.
“Low-T Jimmy appears to be having a full-blown mental Tala-freak-out on the national stage. We have a simple request: proof of life,” said Paxton campaign spokeswoman Madison Cercy.
“James Talarico wants to represent 31 million Texans in the U.S. Senate, but for 12 days, he’s hidden from every one of them,” Cercy added.
The Republican National Committee also weighed in on Talarico’s absence, accusing his campaign of being dishonest about his whereabouts.
“James Talafreako’s handlers need to stop the lies and release proof of life. We’re worried about the little guy,” RNC spokesman Zach Kraft said.
Paxton’s campaign has pointed to several missed or canceled appearances, including an event with the U.S. Hispanic Business Council, the Central Texas African American Civic Engagement Symposium, and a final Austin fundraiser that has reportedly been postponed.
Talarico did participate virtually in the Hispanic Business Council event on September 30, explaining that he had been diagnosed with the flu at a Dallas urgent care facility the previous night.
His campaign has maintained that he is recovering from illness and plans to return to campaigning this weekend.
“After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend,” campaign spokesman JT Ennis told Fox News Wednesday night.
The controversy follows Talarico’s recent fundraising trip to New York City, where he attended events with allies of Democratic Socialist Mayor Zohran Mamdani shortly before reporting his illness.
Talarico’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment on Trump’s latest remarks or whether the candidate remains on track to resume in-person campaigning this weekend.
