Republican operative Rhein Amacher said on Thursday, October 15, that he "never lied" but "just doubled down on wrong information" regarding a claim about Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico. The statement followed earlier reports from Amacher and activist Nick Sorter that Talarico had been treated at a mental health facility in Ohio during a nine-day absence from the campaign trail.
Earlier in October, Talarico paused campaigning for nine days to recover from the flu. During this time, Amacher and Sorter stated that Talarico had flown to the Lindner Center of Hope in Cincinnati. Amacher previously claimed a phone call to the facility confirmed Talarico's presence. However, the report was contradicted when Talarico appeared on stage in Texas with Kacey Musgraves on the day he was allegedly discharged. The Lindner Center subsequently issued a statement denying Talarico had ever been a patient.
In a social media post early Thursday, Amacher said he contacted the facility after receiving a tip and pressed an employee who told him Talarico had been discharged within the previous 24 hours. Amacher acknowledged he had no independently verified evidence that Talarico was a patient and released recordings of the calls. He stated the matter was closed and that it was time to move on to substantive issues.
The admission that the information was incorrect, paired with the statement that Amacher "doubled down" on it, provides a public record of the dissemination of unverified claims. In a legal context, observers on social media suggested such statements may be relevant to the standard of "actual malice," which refers to whether a person made a statement knowing it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth. This could impact any potential defamation proceedings, though the source does not report that a lawsuit has been filed.
Voters and social media users will now see the recorded calls and the facility's denial as part of the public record. The long-term impact on information standards in the Texas Senate race depends on how these admissions are used by opposing campaigns or in future reporting. As of October 15, Amacher has declared the matter closed and has not indicated further action, while the candidate's campaign has not publicly announced a specific legal response in the provided text.