Mason's Lindner Center denies treating Texas Senate candidate

Mason's Lindner Center of HOPE denied on Sunday, Oct. 11, that Texas U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was ever treated at the facility.

The nonprofit mental health center posted a statement on its X account saying Talarico has never received treatment there. The post had drawn more than 55,000 likes and 8.3 million views as of Monday, Oct. 12.

The denial was unusual. Health care facilities rarely issue public statements about whether someone is a patient.

The statement came after Nick Sortor and Rhein Amacher posted a 47-second audio recording on X claiming it proved Talarico had been a patient at the Mason facility, WLWT reported. In the recording, an unidentified woman appeared to tell a caller that a "James Talarico" had been discharged. Elon Musk amplified the claim by reposting it to his 241.5 million followers, the Cincinnati Enquirer reported.

Rolling Stone reported that when the full recordings were released, they showed Amacher had posed as a relative looking to send mail to his "cousin" James and had fabricated a patient code number. A facility employee told the caller no one matching that request appeared on the patient roster or in the computer system.

Talarico, a Texas state senator and the Democratic nominee running against former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, had been off the campaign trail for nine days. Campaign spokesperson JT Ennis said on X on Oct. 11 that Talarico was home in Austin, Texas, recovering from the flu. Talarico wrote on X the same day: "I've never even been to Ohio."

Jennifer Pierson, the Lindner Center's chief brand and advancement officer, told The Daily Wire in an email that the facility does not confirm or deny whether any individual is or has been a patient and does not comment on individual cases.

The Lindner Center of HOPE, founded in 2008 by Cincinnati businessman Craig Lindner and his wife Frances, sits on a 36-acre campus in Mason. The nonprofit has served more than 50,000 patients from all 50 states, according to WCPO.

The Texas general election is Nov. 3.