Trump says 'nobody knows' where Talarico is. Here's what we know

President Donald Trump visited San Antonio to campaign for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and to take aim at his Democratic U.S. Senate opponent, James Talarico, mocking the candidate's name and questioning his absence from the campaign trail.

Trump, who traveled to the Alamo City with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz for Paxton's "Midterm Rally," repeatedly referred to Talarico as "Talafreako" and suggested the Democrat had disappeared in the final weeks before the Nov. 3 midterm elections.

"You haven't seen him in a couple of weeks," Trump told the crowd. "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."

"We're all looking and no one can find the guy. Everybody's been looking for him for two weeks," Trump continued.

Talarico's whereabouts have been a subject of political attacks despite the candidate's public explanation for his absence.

Talarico said he was diagnosed with the flu after visiting an urgent care clinic in Dallas, forcing him to cancel campaign appearances. He disclosed his illness during a virtual event with the United States Hispanic Business Council on Sept. 30, after initially being scheduled to attend in person.

"I guess I've been shaking too many hands on the campaign trail," Talarico said, explaining that he did not want to risk spreading the illness to others.

His campaign also confirmed the diagnosis to the San Antonio Current on Oct. 7, saying the Democrat would return to campaigning soon.

Still, Paxton's campaign has seized on Talarico's absence, launching a "Where's Jimmy?" campaign to track the number of days since his last reported in-person campaign appearance in Texas.

"It's been 11 days since James Talarico was last seen campaigning in Texas, and Texans are starting to ask a simple question: Where's Jimmy?" the Paxton campaign said in an Oct. 7 statement.

In the statement, Paxton's campaign also questioned the timing of Talarico's illness, pointing to a Sept. 28 fundraising appearance in New York City involving actor Robert De Niro. The campaign accused Talarico of prioritizing out-of-state donors over Texas voters and cast doubt on his explanation for missing subsequent appearances, including an in-person event in the Rio Grande Valley.

"I'm an eighth-generation Texan. I've been eating barbecue since before Ken Paxton's first indictment. And if all they have on me is lying about me being a vegan, I feel pretty good about our chances this November," Talarico said during an interview on May 26 with The MeidasTouch Podcast .

The claims began after Republicans have recirculated remarks Talarico made in 2022 about meat consumption, USA TODAY previously reported.

While speaking to the Texas Human Legislative Network, a nonprofit that lobbies for animal welfare, in April 2022 , Talarico said he was reducing his meat consumption as part of climate-related efforts.

"I am proud to say that our campaign has officially become a non-meat campaign," he said at the time. "We are only buying vegan products from our local vegan businesses."

Here's what September and October polls showed:

The New York Times (Oct. 3) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 45%.

Fox News (Oct. 1) — Talarico 51%, Paxton 49%.

Big Data Poll (Sept. 27) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 45%.

Marist Poll (Sept. 23) — Talarico 50%, Paxton 44%.

Texas Southern University (Sept. 22) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.

ReconMR Texas Poll (Sept. 17) — Talarico 49%, Paxton 43%.

Emerson College (Sept. 17) — Talarico 47%, Paxton 46%.

Natassia Paloma may be reached at npaloma@gannett.com , @NatassiaPaloma on X, natassia_paloma on Instagram, and Natassia Paloma on Facebook.