Ken Paxton is mocking his Democrat opponent for seemingly going missing from the campaign trail as Election Day looms.
James Talarico, who is competing against Ken Paxton for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas, recently stopped appearing in person at campaign events and released a statement saying he had contracted the flu from shaking so many hands.
'No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him? Bad rumors are coming out.'
On Wednesday, Texas Attorney General Paxton (R) had his supporters chant, "Where is Talarico?" at a Trump rally in San Antonio to ridicule the Democrat in the pivotal last weeks of the campaign.
CNN reported Thursday that Talarico’s last public appearance in Texas was a press conference on September 26.
Talarico's campaign issued a statement about his ongoing absence.
"After holding more than 100 public events and shaking tens of thousands of hands, James came down with the flu but will be back on the trail this weekend," said a statement from campaign spokesperson J.T. Ennis, according to CNN and Brooke Taylor of Fox News.
"Ken Paxton has been ignoring Texans this entire campaign, and his priorities are clear: He doesn’t answer to the people of this state — he answers to his billionaire megadonors and special interests," the statement added.
President Donald Trump issued a scathing post laughing at Talarico for his unusual campaign absence.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, upon information and belief, James TalaFREAKo, who is running for the United States Senate in Texas, is MISSING IN ACTION!" the president wrote on social media Wednesday.
"No one has seen him for an extended period of time. Where is he? What is wrong with him?" he chided. "Bad rumors are coming out."
RELATED: Talarico’s black and Hispanic outreach stalls just weeks before early voting
Paxton posted images to social media of posters jokingly calling Talarico a missing person.
"Missing posters are popping up across Texas as the search continues," he wrote. "LAST SEEN: 12 days ago. Texans everywhere are asking: where is James Talarico?"
Democrats are looking to flip the Texas seat in hopes of seizing control of the U.S. Senate from Republicans in order to thwart the president's agenda in the last half of his final term.
Those hopes might be dashed, as blacks and Hispanics question more and more whether Talarico's campaign has done enough to reach out to those constituencies.
You can check out the latest polling average between Paxton and Talarico, plus race trends and other helpful data, at Blaze News' Poll Watch.
Texas Senate polls 2026: Talarico vs. Paxton
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[H/T Blaze Media]
