Republicans must have their own internal polling that shows Ken Paxton is lagging behind James Talarico with three weeks left before the midterms so they do what they do best: Create a lie, turn it into a conspiracy theory, then have it amplified through their millions of social media 'influencer' and bot accounts.
It started with a big fat lie by Nick Sortor, who should be sued for defamation with a tweet claiming Talarico was discharged from an Ohio mental health facility.
There is a community note now debunking the lie, but the tweet was out there for awhile with no correction.
Musk then jumped on it and amplified it several times.
Other MAGAts demanded Talarico resign from the campaign.
This was such an easy lie to debunk and immediately was. Republicans are scraping the bottom of the barrel.
For starters, Talarico appeared in public on the campaign trail the day before they said he was 'released.'
Even after the hospital denounced the lie, MAGAts continued to promote it.
Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope.
— Lindner Center HOPE (@LindnerCtrHope) October 11, 2026
Rick Wilson slammed their effort:
The same day Trump was hawking Russian diesel, the Talarico smear imploded like a Trump casino, with roughly the same return for its investors: embarrassment, shame, legal exposure, and the mockery of everyone living in the real world.
A smear that works needs three things: the seed of something real, a messenger people trust, and amplification. Lots of amplification. The Talarico rumor had none of the three. The story was gossamer-thin; its messengers were shifty liars with long track records of being both wrong and lying liars who lie, and their desperation could be smelled from Amarillo.
MTN writes, "The seemingly coordinated effort provided a clear window into the MAGA propaganda and disinformation network."
The original accusation was designed to undermine Talarico’s credibility. Instead, it has brought scrutiny to the people who promoted it.
Sortor presented a supposed hospital confirmation that contained a major chronological contradiction. Grenell accused campaign staffers of covering up a lie. Daugherty demanded a candidate’s withdrawal. Musk helped spread the allegation without publicly resolving the problems in its evidence.
And the questions keep mounting.
Who was actually on the telephone recording? Was the telephone recording real? What did the callers tell hospital personnel? Was a fabricated verification code used? What independent verification, if any, did the influencers conduct before publishing their allegations? Did those who amplified the story know about the conflicting dates? How could he Talarico be discharged from an Ohio mental facility on October 10, despite being seen publicly at the Austin music festival chatting with with supporters on October 9.
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Instead, they have given the public a fresh reason to scrutinize their own credibility—and to ask whether the tactics behind their attempted political hit crossed legal lines.
There has never been much if anything that could be deemed credible coming out of the mouths of MAGA influencers, Evangelical Christian podcasters, Real America's Voice and the like.
This attempt to smear Talarico highlights how low these people go. And now they're just reduced to questioning his sexuality, because they have nothing.
No policy ideas.
Nothing to improve the lives of Texans.
Nothing to lower the price of gas, diesel and groceries.
Just ugly personal attacks, lies and smears.
If Texas votes for Paxton it would be a statewide humiliation.
