Trump and Paxton attack Texas Senate candidate Talarico for absence from the campaign trail
Talarico said he has the flu and has been off the trail for more than a week.
With 26 days to go until the midterm election in what is shaping up to be a crucial battle for Senate in Texas, Democratic candidate James Talarico has been off the campaign trail for more than a week battling the flu, prompting attacks from President Donald Trump and Talarico's Republican opponent Ken Paxton, who cast doubt on his explanation.
"I hear the guy has disappeared -- nobody knows. You know where he is? He's sick because he's forced to eat meat for political reasons and he's throwing up all over the place," Trump said at a rally in Texas on Wednesday.
Trump and other Republicans have attacked Talarico as a vegan for comments he made about reducing meat consumption in 2022. He is not a vegan.
Paxton, speaking ahead of Trump, largely focused his remarks on Talarico's absence from the trail.
"Where do you think they hid that little socialist?" Paxton began his remarks.
Paxton then engaged in a call-and-response with the audience, asking everyone to shout collectively, "Where is James Talarico?"
Talarico moved an appearance to virtual capacity last week and has canceled some events as he battles the flu.
His campaign has not indicated when he will resume in-person events but promised he will be "back on the trail soon.
The Democratic candidate's last public event was on Sept. 26 and he held a virtual event on Sept. 30. Talarico has talked openly at healthcare events about having Type 1 diabetes, a condition that could complicate his recovery from the flu.
"I was ready to eat my favorite quesadilla tacos, but I was starting to feel kind of under the weather a few days ago, and last night it got so bad that I went to the urgent care here in Dallas," he said during his Sept. 30 virtual appearance.
"I want to keep everybody safe," he said. "If I was passing on this illness to somebody and got someone's grandmother or someone's baby sick, I ... couldn't live with myself, so I thought the best thing to do was to put safety first and put everyone's health first."
His campaign has not indicated when he will resume in-person events but promised he will be "back on the trail soon."
Talarico has a CNN town hall scheduled for next Wednesday and has not indicated he will miss as of now.
Talarico's absence comes at a critical time, with the midterm elections entering the home stretch and Democrats growing confident about their chances of winning the Texas Senate race.
Late September polling in Texas from the New York Times/Siena University and Fox News found the candidates in a tight race.
In a social media post Thursday, Trump further blasted Talarico for his absence from the campaign trail, questioning the veracity of Talarico's claims to be sick.
"TalaFREAKo has been missing for 12 days! 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 posted.
At the Texas rally, Trump called for Talarico to "immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton."
But Talarico has for weeks unsuccessfully challenged Paxton to debate him, most recently to debate on Fox News, but Paxton has not responded. Talarico previously accepted a CNN debate but Paxton declined.
Despite a Paxton adviser saying earlier this summer that Paxton "of course" plans to debate Talarico, the two candidates have clashed over which debates to participate in and none have been scheduled.
ABC News has asked Paxton's campaign if he plans to commit to any debates, including Talarico's proposed Fox News one.
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