The science is settled! Twitter has moved on. Read the room! https://t.co/9o1nELL0UL
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 17, 2026 at 04:22PM
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P.S.: Here’s where I linked to the Ohio clinic theory and said it was “too on the nose.” https://t.co/KbioP16ScX
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 10:27PM
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What do you think? Here’s a poll:
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 10:17PM
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0
This is the Sept. 30 video in which James Talarico announces he has the flu. https://t.co/787whXem2d
Does he look like someone about to have a mental breakdown? No.
Does he look like someone who has the flu? Well, he’s a bit red. And the host of the forum says “I spoke to him this morning. He sounded like hell.” But he doesn’t sniffle or cough or speak roughly anywhere in the hour-long video. There are one or two of what seemed to me uncomfortable swallows. You make the call!
Keep in mind there is precious little (e.g. zero) other public evidence, aside from Team Talarico’s say so, regarding the flu diagnosis. The New York Times claims to have proved through security cam footage that he was at home for the next week, not that he had the flu.
Let’s concede for argument’s sake that he was sick in some way.
The next 9 days are the crux of the issue–i.e. the real question is DOES TALARICO LOOK SO ILL IN THIS VIDEO THAT HE CREDIBLY SPENT THE NEXT 9 DAYS RECOVERING WITHOUT COMMUNICATING WITH THE PUBLIC? No tweets, no zoom videos, no photo ops? Seems strange for someone with such a strong online presence.
If you’re on the bubble about whether the 9/30 video shows a man with the flu, you have your answer: Even if he was ill he sure didn’t seem so ill that he had to drop off the grid for one of the final weeks of the campaign.
That’s my conclusion anyway, and Mark Penn’s, and others’. It’s “super odd” and “doesn’t make sense.” https://t.co/MpFv4IHT5E There must have been something else going on during those 9 days.
I haven’t any knowledge of what it was—the Ohio hospital thing always seemed “too on the nose” to me. It was a logical story for some partisan to make up, or to believe after a Gere-and-gerbil game of telephone (see https://t.co/tK3UYkLjnQ). But there are other possibilities: 1) Maybe Talarico needed to focus on grand strategic decisions before the final three week sprint, including how to back off his earlier, seemingly extreme positions (eg “reinvest our limited [police] funding into…community-based solutions”) https://t.co/SlMUrJUHLW; 2) Now is about the time when campaigns usually get hit with the most vicious stories their rivals can gin up. Maybe he was trying to fend off a big scandalous expose–or a big false expose–or a true or false attempt at blackmail that required prolonged negotiation; 3) Maybe he was just tired and needed a rest.
None of these things are mutually exclusive. Aside from the dissembling involved, they don’t necessarily reflect badly on Talarico. But they might. Voters should be told what was up.
What do you think?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 10:14PM
via IFTTT
0
This is the Sept. 30 video in which James Talarico announces he has the flu. https://t.co/787whXem2d
Does he look like someone about to have a mental breakdown? No.
Does he look like someone who has the flu? Well, he’s a bit red. And the host of the forum says “I spoke to him this morning. He sounded like hell.” But he doesn’t sniffle or cough or speak roughly anywhere in the hour-long video. There are one or two of what seemed to me uncomfortable swallows. You make the call!
Keep in mind there is precious little (e.g. zero) other public evidence, aside from Team Talarico’s say so, regarding the flu diagnosis. The New York Times claims to have proved through security cam footage that he was at home for the next week, not that he had the flu.
Let’s concede for argument’s sake that he was sick in some way.
The next 9 days are the crux of the issue–i.e. the real question is DOES TALARICO LOOK SO ILL IN THIS VIDEO THAT HE CREDIBLY SPENT THE NEXT 9 DAYS RECOVERING WITHOUT COMMUNICATING WITH THE PUBLIC? No tweets, no zoom videos, no photo ops? Seems strange for someone with such a strong online presence.
If you’re on the bubble about whether the 9/30 video shows a man with the flu, you have your answer: Even if he was ill he sure didn’t seem so ill that he had to drop off the grid for one of the final weeks of the campaign.
That’s my conclusion anyway, and Mark Penn’s, and others’. It’s “super odd” and “doesn’t make sense.” https://t.co/MpFv4IHT5E There must have been something else going on during those 9 days.
I haven’t any knowledge of what it was—the Ohio hospital thing always seemed “too on the nose” to me. https://t.co/9JOFOw1sGI That was a logical story for some partisan to make up, or to believe after a Gere-and-gerbil game of telephone (see https://t.co/tK3UYkLjnQ). But there are other possibilities: 1) Maybe Talarico needed to focus on grand strategic decisions before the final three week sprint, including how to back off his earlier, seemingly extreme positions (eg “reinvest our limited [police] funding into…community-based solutions”) https://t.co/SlMUrJUHLW; 2) Now is about the time when campaigns usually get hit with the most vicious stories their rivals can gin up. Maybe he was trying to fend off a big scandalous expose–or a big false expose–or a true or false attempt at blackmail that required prolonged negotiation; 3) Maybe he was just tired and needed a rest.
None of these things are mutually exclusive. Aside from the dissembling involved, they don’t necessarily reflect badly on Talarico. But they might. Voters should be told what was up.
What do you think?
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 10:11PM
via IFTTT
0
This is the Sept. 30 video in which James Talarico announces he has the flu. https://t.co/787whXem2d
Does he look like someone about to have a mental breakdown? No.
Does he look like someone who has the flu? Well, he’s a bit red. And the host of the forum says “I spoke to him this morning. He sounded like hell.” But he doesn’t sniffle or cough or speak roughly anywhere in the hour-long video. There are one or two of what seemed to me uncomfortable swallows. You make the call!
Keep in mind there is precious little (e.g. zero) other public evidence, aside from Team Talarico’s say so, regarding the flu diagnosis. The New York Times claims to have proved through security cam footage that he was at home for the next week, not that he had the flu.
Let’s concede for argument’s sake that he was sick in some way.
The next 9 days are the crux of the issue–i.e. the real question is DOES TALARICO LOOK SO ILL IN THIS VIDEO THAT HE CREDIBLY SPENT THE NEXT 9 DAYS RECOVERING WITHOUT COMMUNICATING WITH THE PUBLIC? No tweets, no zoom videos, no photo ops? Seems strange for someone with such a strong online presence.
If you’re on the bubble about whether the 9/30 video shows a man with the flu, you have your answer: Even if he was ill he sure didn’t seem so ill that he had to drop off the grid for one of the final weeks of the campaign.
That’s my conclusion anyway, and Mark Penn’s, and others’. It’s “super odd” and “doesn’t make sense.” https://t.co/MpFv4IHT5E There must have been something else going on during those 9 days.
I haven’t any knowledge of what it was—the Ohio hospital thing always seemed “too on the nose” to me. https://t.co/9JOFOw1sGI That was a logical story for some partisan to make up, or to believe after a Gere-and-gerbil game of telephone (see https://t.co/tK3UYkLjnQ). But there are other possibilities: 1) Maybe Talarico needed to focus on grand strategic decisions before the final three week sprint, including how to back off his earlier, seemingly extreme positions (eg “reinvest our limited [police] funding into…community-based solutions”) https://t.co/SlMUrJUHLW; 2) Now is about the time when campaigns usually get hit with the most vicious stories their rivals can gin up. Maybe he was trying to fend off a big scandalous expose–or a big false expose–or a true or false attempt at blackmail that required prolonged negotiation; 3) Maybe he was just tired and needed a rest.
None of these things are mutually exclusive. Aside from the dissembling involved, they don’t necessarily reflect badly on Talarico. But they might. Voters should be told what was up.
What do you think? Here’s a poll:
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 17, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 10:06PM
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Talarico is Manchin? Seems like total three-weeks-before-election BS. https://t.co/suVPnxAb9U
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 03:45PM
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No. The Fox autopsy will be “This just shows we need mass immigration amnesty.” As in 2012. Orders from the top. https://t.co/GcoiWkZnu7 https://t.co/S3tQ8fdxQK
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 02:55PM
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No. The Fox autopsy will be “This just shows we need mass immigration amnesty.” As in 2012. https://t.co/GcoiWkZnu7 https://t.co/S3tQ8fdxQK
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 02:49PM
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So Iran War:
— will cost GOPs midterms and cripple Trump’s presidency, at least domestically
— hamstring his foreign policy (eg he now needs Russia for diesel)
— will damage GOP for decades into future by giving Democrats influence over 2030 census(Note: This is true even if Trump ultimately prevails over Iran *after* the election. Too late.)
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 02:04PM
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Yesteday: “Read the room”
Today: “Align with the room”
Tomorrow: “Annoy the room”— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 01:50PM
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Reminder: Ballot secrecy goes out the window with mass ballot harvesting. https://t.co/Ba0YybBr8j
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 01:34PM
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But what about https://t.co/u39yfAGhSq https://t.co/KIPQFEy5NN
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 16, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 16, 2026 at 01:14PM
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Good. I don’t want to be in an identity group. https://t.co/83hF3z9fDF
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 15, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 14, 2026 at 11:30PM
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Specifically the Heaven’s Gate cult.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 15, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 14, 2026 at 11:17PM
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AI workers smoking cigarettes to signal their faith that AI will cure their lung cancers is a little culty, no? https://t.co/2PPHuHrvDG
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 15, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 14, 2026 at 09:38PM
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By “void” I mean there are NO tweets of any kind from Ennis between 10/2 and 10/9, when Talarico reappears. The communications guy was not communicating. https://t.co/jZcyvtvoJQ
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 13, 2026 at 05:59PM
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* care! https://t.co/Cx5gOVffDf
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 13, 2026 at 05:58PM
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Here’s the tweet Talarico’s spokesperson put out two days after his candidate’s “bad” flu was said to have been diagnosed and he dropped off the trail. True, it doesn’t say that Talarico would be at any of the events. Still seems discordant, especially since I can’t find Ennis himself mentioning the flu while Talarico was absent, and there’s a void from 10/2 to 10/9. He should feel free to correct me if I’m wrong.
(No mention of the flu on @TeamTalerico page either, FWIW.)
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 13, 2026 at 02:20PM
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A receipt from the urgent car should be easy to produce, no? Maybe he’s done that already. https://t.co/3BG6sXLAsv
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 13, 2026 at 01:23PM
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New hot take: It was really RSV (which lasts forever) and was misdiagnosed, or not really diagnosed at all. https://t.co/ixlDQwrf3l
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 12, 2026 at 10:25PM
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NYT checks out the mental clinic story–good, up to a point. We need a report on ‘Inside the Talarico campaign. What they were doing and thinking when their candidate disappeared and they seemingly did nothing.” https://t.co/mbPP5Ni0K4
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 13, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 12, 2026 at 10:03PM
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He tweets to say he gave a sermon https://t.co/asdJQSoWyR He tweets to thank the people at ACL https://t.co/d4gAgTbI0c He tweets to thank Kacey Musgraves. https://t.co/D6Z4ot3y0D Not like it’s not an account for personal news.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 12, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 12, 2026 at 04:52PM
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Talarico’s own Twitter feed has only 5-8 posts during his off-the-grid period (depending on if you count Sept 29). Who knows who wrote those posts, of course. Why couldn’t he just have tweeted “Hey, I still have the flu. Hope to be back soon”? (Couldn’t the campaign have tweeted it for him?) It’s just weird.
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 12, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 12, 2026 at 04:45PM
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“Clark has complained that she is intentionally targeted with hard fouls—and sometimes she is, but not because she’s white.” How does Sally Jenkins know? Did the @Atlantic fact-checkers verify this? https://t.co/33IzMSt6cx
— Mickey Kaus (@kausmickey)
Oct 12, 2026
from Twitter https://twitter.com/kausmickey
October 12, 2026 at 03:45PM
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