“Is Our Children Learning?”

Dude didn’t lose a pound. 2 week flu my ass LMAO. I smoked him out of hiding.

— Spencer Pratt (@spencerpratt) October 9, 2026

The value and virtues of Twitter.

https://t.co/HdmdXe8UrH

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 9, 2026

If you haven’t heard, Talarico wasn’t holed up in his house in Austin with the press camped outside for 9 days (or 12 days, or 14 days. There are as many timelines as there are conspiracy theories.), and wasn’t followed from his house to the ACL festival in Austin on Friday night by the same press.

.@JamesTalarico stops by Kacey Musgraves’ concert 🤩 https://t.co/PimgeG944p

— Team Talarico (@TeamTalaricoHQ) October 11, 2026

James Talarico is at ACL Weekend 2 🤩 https://t.co/MmKEsUUFyX

— Team Talarico (@TeamTalaricoHQ) October 9, 2026

Because Talarico was holed in a mental health care facility in Ohio until Saturday morning. October 10th. Or so says MAGA Twitter.

MAGA Twitter says this means Talarico must withdraw and allow Paxton to win by default. Except…

Called the Lindner Center of Hope myself just now. "We would never disclose any patient information," the woman I spoke with told me. "That would be a HIPAA violation."

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 11, 2026

There it is. A Nick Sorter special.

🚨 BREAKING EXCLUSIVE: Ohio mental hospital CONFIRMS James Talarico was discharged from the facility earlier this week The “flu” thing was a BIG FAT LIE Following reporting by @SaraGonzalesTX and @CarolineWren, a hospital employee told @RheinAmacher and I that Talarico had in fact been a patient at the Lindner Center of Hope near Cincinnati, Ohio, which specializes in around-the-clock mental health treatment. While I sympathize with those dealing with mental health crises, this man is CLEARLY not suited to become a US Senator representing over 30 MILLION TEXANS. The job doesn’t get easier after being elected — it only gets MORE stressful. And Talarico clearly can’t handle it. I pray he gets the help he needs, but Texans need a real representative they can rely on.

— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) October 11, 2026

Well, one thing is true: there is a big, fat lie here.

Notable on the supposed Talarico bombshell burning up MAGA Twitter: The caller in question says he made these calls *last night.* In the call, the "employee" seems to say Talarico was discharged "this evening." The same evening Talarico was publicly on stage w Kasey Musgraves 🫠 https://t.co/OPclwgJX6H

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 11, 2026

Yes, there was a “recording” of the call (who wouldn’t record their HIPPA violation?). It was revealed, on Twitter, to be AI generated. The account that revealed that, has been suspended. All Community Notes correcting Sortor’s claims have been taken down.  Elmo wants this story out there. 

Raw panic.🙀 

And now you see why the timeline matters, and where the “details” are coming from. 

Didn't fully deny it, though--just said they *wouldn't* reveal that information. Beyond that referred me to the center's comms team, who will be in tomorrow, and who should have a pleasant start to the workweek

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 11, 2026

It appears the comms team later decided they’d better come in on Sunday.

NEW: Lindner Center releases official statement debunking internet conspiracy theories about James Talarico. See below ⬇️

— JT Ennis (@jt_ennis) October 12, 2026

Yeah, this whole thing is just covered in stupid.

Notable on the supposed Talarico bombshell burning up MAGA Twitter: The caller in question says he made these calls *last night.* In the call, the "employee" seems to say Talarico was discharged "this evening." The same evening Talarico was publicly on stage w Kasey Musgraves 🫠 https://t.co/OPclwgJX6H

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 11, 2026

There’s that; and…

Meanwhile, the random plane MAGA has convinced itself flew Talarico home from his supposed stay at the mental health facility flew to Texas one day earlier, on October 9.

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 11, 2026

Also, too, as well.

"Is this necessarily provably false? I don't know." --one of the story's *backers*

— Andrew Egger (@EggerDC) October 12, 2026

The whole MAGA Twitter melee has been MAGA trying to cope with the fact Paxton is very, very likely to lose. At this point, they can’t even cope with basic logic.

😈

Elon Musk and MAGA influencers tried to push a “BOMBSHELL” to destroy James Talarico. Then their smear fell apart under the most basic scrutiny. Now THEIR tactics are raising serious legal questions—and one admitted “public humiliation” was the goal. This backfired spectacularly. https://t.co/16eB4hjrnZ

— MeidasTouch (@MeidasTouch) October 11, 2026

Elon Musk and MAGA influencers tried to push a “BOMBSHELL” to destroy James Talarico.

Then their smear fell apart under the most basic scrutiny.

Now THEIR tactics are raising serious legal questions—and one admitted “public humiliation” was the goal.

This backfired spectacularly.

LATER: The tweets I used have now acquired community notes. After the clinic in Ohio denied Talarico had ever been there, even Elmo threw in the towel.

And wading through this post the next morning, the whole thing really is a farce. A complete waste of time and energy.