Far right media figures spent the weekend circulating a fabricated story about Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, only to watch their smear collapse once the people involved began responding. Billionaire Elon Musk played a central role in pushing the false claim across X.

Talarico, who is running against Republican nominee Ken Paxton, recently stepped away from the campaign trail for an extended period because of a bout of flu. That absence became the raw material for a MAGA conspiracy theory.

On Sunday, MAGA media figure Nick Sortor claimed the explanation about the flu was “a BIG FAT LIE.” He instead alleged that Talarico had received treatment at a hospital in Ohio.

Sortor claimed that “a hospital employee told @RheinAmacher and I that Talarico had in fact been a patient at the Lindner Center of Hope near Cincinnati, Ohio, which specializes in around-the-clock mental health treatment.”

Sortor then used the unsupported hospital claim to attack Talarico’s fitness for office. He declared that the Democrat was “CLEARLY not suited to become a US Senator representing over 30 MILLION TEXANS.”

Musk repeatedly promoted Sortor’s falsehoods on X, helping spread the story to a much wider audience. In one post, Musk said the allegation showed that “the Talarico campaign is hiding something big that voters ought to know about.”

Musk also asserted that “the Talarico campaign is not being honest about what’s happening.” The posts amplified a story that would soon be directly contradicted by both Talarico and the facility where Sortor claimed he had received treatment.

Longtime Trump ally Richard Grenell also promoted the fabricated story. Grenell was recently involved in Trump’s efforts to destroy the Kennedy Center.

Talarico returned to the campaign trail on Friday and addressed the conspiracy theory during an interview with MS NOW. His response captured the absurdity of watching an internet claim get elevated into a political story.

“This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard. It’s wild that someone can just post something on the internet and then the media just runs with it,” Talarico said.

Talarico also challenged Paxton to a debate during the interview. The Republican nominee has been avoiding such a debate as he campaigns for the Texas Senate seat.

Then the Lindner Center of Hope delivered a blunt factual response that deepened the humiliation for the right wing figures promoting the allegation. The facility stated on X, “Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope.”

Talarico offered an even simpler answer to the claim that he had received treatment near Cincinnati. “I’ve never even been to Ohio 😂,” he wrote.

The smear surfaced as polling showed a tight race in Texas, which has historically been a Republican stronghold. Paxton is a weak candidate supported by millions in outside money, much of it coming from Musk’s super PAC, America PAC.

Musk has put substantial money behind the effort to ensure Republicans retain the seat. His weekend activity showed that his involvement was not limited to campaign spending, as he repeatedly used his platform to promote the false story targeting Talarico.

The episode left the smear merchants facing clear denials from both the candidate and the hospital at the center of their story. Their supposed bombshell became another MAGA hoax that could not survive contact with the people who actually knew the facts.