False rumor about Texas Democrat's Ohio hospital visit spreads online

A false claim about Democratic Texas Senate candidate James Talarico spread widely on social media in October 2026. A conservative influencer posted a short audio clip saying Talarico had stayed at a mental health facility in Ohio. The clip was watched more than eight million times. A separate post about a private jet flight between Texas and Ohio was seen 1.8 million times. Republican politicians and social media figures shared both claims. However, the Ohio facility publicly confirmed that Talarico had never been a patient there. Talarico said he had not visited Ohio and had been sick with flu at his Austin home. His campaign said he had missed nine days of public events because of his illness.