With 26 days to go until the midterm election in\u00a0what is shaping up to be a crucial battle for Senate in Texas,\u00a0Democratic\u00a0candidate\u00a0James Talarico has been off the campaign trail\u00a0for more than a week\u00a0battling\u00a0the flu, prompting attacks from President Donald Trump and Talarico’s Republican opponent Ken Paxton,\u00a0who cast doubt on his explanation.<\/p>\n
“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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
![\"Democratic](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/fda6b786-7711-4913-9819-3d2958edacdb\/paxton-trump--rt-gmh-261008_1791476913911_hpMain.jpg?w=375 "\\"Democratic")
<\/picture><\/div>\n<\/div>President Donald Trump and Republican US Senate candidate Ken Paxton attend a campaign rally in San Antonio, Texas, October 7, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Evan Vucci\/Reuters<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Paxton, speaking ahead of Trump, largely focused his remarks on Talarico’s absence from the trail.<\/p>\n “Where do you think they hid that little socialist?” Paxton began his remarks.<\/p>\n Paxton then engaged in a call-and-response with the audience, asking everyone to shout collectively, “Where is James Talarico?”<\/p>\n Talarico moved an appearance to virtual capacity last week and has canceled some events as he battles the flu.<\/p>\n His campaign has not indicated when he will resume in-person events but promised he will be “back on the trail soon.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Democratic candidate’s last public event was on Sept. 26 and he held a virtual event on Sept. 30.\u00a0Talarico has talked openly at healthcare events about having Type 1 diabetes, a condition that could complicate his recovery from the flu.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n “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.”<\/p>\n His campaign has not indicated when he will resume in-person events but promised he will be “back on the trail soon.”<\/p>\n Talarico has a CNN town hall scheduled for next Wednesday and has not indicated he will miss as of now.<\/p>\n Democratic candidate for US Senate James Talarico speaks during a rally in Houston, Texas, September 13, 2026.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n Ronaldo Schemidt\/AFP via Getty Images<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n 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.<\/p>\n Late September polling in Texas from the\u00a0New York Times\/Siena University<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0found the candidates in a tight race.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “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.<\/p>\n At the Texas rally, Trump called for Talarico to “immediately report to a Debate Stage against Ken Paxton.”<\/p>\n But Talarico has for weeks unsuccessfully challenged Paxton to debate him, most recently to debate on Fox News, but Paxton has not responded.\u00a0Talarico previously accepted a CNN debate but Paxton declined.<\/p>\n 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n ABC News has asked Paxton’s campaign if he plans to commit to any debates, including Talarico’s proposed Fox News one.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Evan](\"https:\/\/i.abcnewsfe.com\/a\/117b3606-852f-4083-8e45-54b30d8487f7\/talarico-gty-gmh-261008_1791477153820_hpEmbed_3x2.jpg?w=375 "\\"Evan")
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