Audio Surfaces Claiming Texas Democrat Talarico Was at Ohio Mental Health Facility, Not Home with Flu

Independent journalists released audio Sunday in which a woman answering a call to the Lindner Center of Hope in Mason, Ohio, appeared to confirm that Texas Democratic Senate nominee James Talarico had been a patient and was recently discharged. The Talarico campaign rejected the claim and restated that he had been recovering from the flu at home in Texas.

The recording, posted by Nick Sortor and Rhein Amacher, captures a caller asking about James Talarico. The woman responding checks information and states, “Let’s see, looks, well, this is what it’s — today — looks like he was just discharged this evening. That’s why I don’t have it.” When asked if he had been discharged, she answers “Mmhmm.” She identifies the location as the Lindner Center of Hope in Mason, Ohio, a facility that provides inpatient mental health treatment. The employee is not named in the recording. The journalists said the call followed earlier reporting that raised questions about Talarico’s location.

Campaign spokesman JT Ennis responded that the audio is “a lie designed to promote a pathetic conspiracy theory.” He said, “Last week James Talarico was home in Austin, Texas, recovering from the flu.” Talarico had been absent from in-person campaign events for roughly 12 days before reappearing Friday at the Austin City Limits music festival. On September 30, during a virtual appearance, he said he had gone to urgent care in Dallas and been diagnosed with the flu.

A representative of the Lindner Center of Hope told the Daily Wire that the facility respects the privacy and confidentiality of all individuals and does not confirm or deny whether any individual is or has been a patient. Other outlets that contacted the center received similar statements citing privacy rules. The recording itself has not been independently authenticated by the facility, and no public records have confirmed patient status.

White House deputy chief of staff for policy Stephen Miller reacted to the audio and called on Talarico to release his medical records. The discrepancy between the campaign’s account of a flu recovery at home and the statements on the released recording has drawn public attention as early voting approaches in the Texas Senate race. The audio and the campaign’s denial stand as the two public positions. The facility has declined to address the specific claims.