FILE PHOTO: Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico speaks during a rally in San Antonio, Texas, U.S., May 29, 2026. REUTERS/Joel Angel Juarez
A MAGA operative who posed as the cousin of Senate nominee James Talarico (D-TX) in a call that fueled a false psychiatric hospital rumor insists he “never lied.”
Rhein Amacher, who says he worked on President Donald Trump’s 2024 campaign, posted what he called a “final statement” on X early Thursday.
The Lindner Center of Hope, a psychiatric hospital in Mason, Ohio, said on X on Sunday that Talarico had never received treatment there. The rumor spread while Talarico was off the campaign trail with what his campaign called the flu.
“Frankly, this entire situation has been blown completely out of proportion,” Amacher wrote in the statement.
“I have no independently verified evidence establishing that Talarico was ever a patient there. I’m not going to speculate beyond the information available or continue fueling a controversy based on an unverified claim. As far as I’m concerned, this matter is closed. It’s time to move on to more substantive issues facing voters,” he continued.
Amacher also vowed to do “everything within my ability” to help elect Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee running against Talarico.
“You still didn’t answer the question why did you commit a crime by lying about being a family member why did you harass the lady by not taking no for an answer?” one X user asked Amacher.
“It’s not a crime to give a false name and inquiry about sending a care package,” Amacher replied.
Amacher called the hospital Saturday night, identifying himself as Tim and claiming to be Talarico’s cousin. He said staff turned him away until he provided a four-digit patient code, according to the Tribune.
Amacher wrote that he “pressed an employee for information.” But his statement omits that the staffer first told him no one by that name had been discharged, according to the full recording.
“I do not find anyone with that name for the last four days that’s been discharged, and they’re not here in the building,” the staffer said after the MAGA operative gave him a fabricated patient identification code.
Amacher pressed the staffer and eventually received another answer: “Looks like he was just discharged this evening."
The staffer said he was discharged on the same Saturday evening that Talarico attended a concert in Dallas, a day after meeting voters at an Austin music festival.
“You lied and got exposed in record time,” another X user wrote under the statement.
“No, never lied,” Amacher shot back.
“Never lied, I just doubled down on wrong information,” he told another critic.
“There’s no one to blame but myself. I’ll take this as a valuable learning experience, make the necessary adjustments, and move forward with greater perspective and better judgment,” Amacher wrote in a separate reply.
“Oh, it is definitely not closed. You’re going to be squirming in court for your libel and lies,” activist Travis Akers, a former school board candidate in Florida, wrote on X.
“Son, lawyer up,” Lincoln Project co-founder Rick Wilson wrote.
“Hey Jesse, my attorney just gave me a stand down order, and not to do any interviews or podcasts moving forward,” Amacher wrote Tuesday, two days before the statement, to journalist Jesse Singal, who posted the message after Amacher canceled their interview.
“I don’t want to potentially get myself entangled in any legal hot water at this point,” Amacher added.
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