Good Enough for Them! CBS, NBC Take Talarico’s Word on Why He Was AWOL

For the first time on their flagship morning or evening newscasts, two of the major broadcast networks — CBS and NBC — mentioned Tuesday that Texas Democrat senatorial candidate James Talarico had gone AWOL for over a week, suggesting there was no reason for anyone to engage in “rumors” or express skepticism about his neat-and-tidy explanation for an abnormally long flu bout.

The networks could have at least alluded to any number of concerns, like these in a piece for The Federalist by our friend M.D. Kittle. But alas, they had other ideas that more or less smothered them in a pillow. 

CBS Mornings mentioned Talarico at the end of chief White House correspondent Nancy Cordes’s report casting doubt on the GOP’s midterm chances and blasting President Trump’s Monday night rally in Ohio.

After mentioning the increased 2026 spending by trillionaire Elon Musk, Cordes complained he “was one of many big-name conservatives who amplified false rumors this week about the whereabouts of Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, who returned to the campaign trail this weekend after he was sidelined by illness all last week.”

This went into a clip from an interview Talarico did with NBC 5 DFW in which the candidate asserted: “I got the flu — uh — and I’m feeling much better.”

Taking his word like Cordes and her fellow liberal, elitist reporters did from the Biden White House until it became politically inconvenient, she boasted of a gesture from Talarico’s team:

In a bid to quash those false GOP rumors, Talarico’s campaign actually sent CBS News and other outlets security images showing he was, in fact, recuperating from the flu at home last week and not getting treatment at a facility in Ohio[.]

Over on NBC’s Today, Talarico was also invoked at the end of their midterm update (but before some welcome and balanced analysis from Steve Kornacki).

“Let’s go from Ohio to Texas here for a moment, because the Democrat running for the Senate here, looking to make history, flip that seat. He was absent from the campaign trail for about nine days, if my math is right. Do we know why,” wondered co-host Craig Melvin.

Under the chyron “Talarico False Rumor Controversy,” chief Capitol Hill correspondent Ryan Nobles scoffed at the lack of transparency, saying “this has raised a lot of speculation online.”

Sharing he “was actually in Texas on the day” Talarico first said he was sick, Nobles seemed almost perturbed that a long absence led to all kinds of possible explanations, which he called “wild speculation” that “exploded online” (click “expand”):

He said he was suffering from the flu, but the prolonged absence provoked wild speculation about his whereabouts. His opponent, Ken Paxton, even launched a tip line. It reached a fever pitch this weekend when a false claim exploded online and was amplified by some conservatives, including Elon Musk, that he’d actually been at a mental health facility in Ohio, but on Sunday night, that facility actually came out to say that he’d not been treated there.

Talarico has since said he didn’t want to get anyone else sick, and he returned to the campaign trail on Friday. He said it was the craziest thing that he’s ever heard — the theory that he was in a mental health facility, and, Craig, he even added that he’s never even been to Ohio.

So, when the press want to breathe life into a line of attack they find fruitful, they’ll insist, for the sake of argument, there’s “growing scrutiny,” “growing questions,” or “questions are being raised.” But when there’s a lack of explanation for something or someone they want to protect, it’s either brushed off, or the party line is accepted without skepticism.

ABC covered it back on Sunday during World News Tonight. Correspondent Alex Presha had only this to say: “And, in Texas, Democrat James Talarico, running a tight race despite missing more than a week from the campaign trail battling the flu. Republicans spending millions across Texas, Ohio, Nebraska, Iowa, Alaska, South Carolina, and Kansas to defend Senate seats in states that President Trump won by double digits two years ago.” 

To see the relevant transcripts from October 13, click here (for CBS) and here (for NBC).