詹姆斯·塔拉里科否认了他在网上被指控秘密进入精神健康中心的说法，称他错过了竞选活动是因为患了流感。
James Talarico denied an online claim that he secretly entered a mental health centre, saying he missed the campaign trail because he had flu.
这一虚假说法在X平台上传播开来，原因是右翼用户分享了一段可疑录音，而埃隆·马斯克进一步推动了暗示竞选团队“在隐藏重大事情”的帖子。林德纳希望中心表示塔拉里科“在那里从未接受过治疗”，而观察者指出他的竞选活动安排，并表示时间线与阴谋论不符。
The false story spread on X after right-wing users shared a dubious recording, and Elon Musk boosted posts suggesting the campaign was “hiding something big.”Lindner Centre of Hope said Talarico “has never received treatment” there, while observers noted his campaign events and said the timeline did not fit the conspiracy theory.
AI生成 华盛顿 — 美国参议员候选人詹姆斯·塔拉里科，他正瞄准在德克萨斯州赢得历史性的民主党中期选举胜利，驳斥了一种在线阴谋论，称他秘密进入了俄亥俄州的一家精神健康机构，称其为“我听过的最疯狂的事情”。
AI generated WASHINGTON – US Senate candidate James Talarico, who is eyeing an historic Democratic midterm win in Texas, pushed back against an online conspiracy theory that he had secretly checked into an Ohio mental health facility, calling it “the craziest thing I’ve ever heard”.
这位新晋候选人在10月11日对MS Now表示，一次流感导致他在与共和党候选人肯·帕克斯顿的激烈竞选中离开竞选道路超过一周，帕克斯顿是总统唐纳德·特朗普指定代表深红色德克萨斯州的候选人。
The upstart candidate told MS Now on Oct 11 that a bout with the flu had caused him to step away for over a week from the campaign trail in his close race with Republican Ken Paxton, President Donald Trump’s pick to represent deeply red Texas.
“我得了流感，”塔拉里科对该新闻网络说。“这是我听过的最疯狂的事情。”塔拉里科在接受NBC达拉斯-沃斯堡采访时补充说，这一事件“是一个很好的提醒，说明你不能相信你在互联网上读到的一切”。
“I had the flu,” Talarico told the news network. “This is the craziest thing I’ve ever heard.”Talarico added in an interview with NBC Dallas-Fort Worth that the episode was “a good reminder that you can’t believe everything you read on the internet”.
关于塔拉里科在撒谎说自己得流感以掩盖精神健康危机的虚假叙事在X平台上迅速传播，原因是一些知名的右翼用户流传了一段据称显示俄亥俄州林德纳希望中心员工确认他曾是患者的可疑录音。
The false narrative that Talarico was lying about the flu to conceal a mental health crisis took off on X as prominent right-wing users circulated a dubious recording that supposedly showed an employee at Ohio’s Lindner Centre of Hope confirming that he had been a patient.
亿万富翁、X平台所有者埃隆·马斯克，他一直在投入资金支持帕克斯顿，多次推动这些帖子，在一条回复中写道：“塔拉里科的竞选团队在隐藏一些重大事情。”
Billionaire X owner Elon Musk, who has poured money into supporting Paxton, repeatedly boosted the posts, writing in one reply that “the Talarico campaign is hiding something big”.
该机构在10月11日于X平台发表声明称，塔拉里科“从未接受过林德纳希望中心的治疗”。
The facility said in a statement on Oct 11 on X that Talarico “has never received treatment from Lindner Centre of Hope”.
塔利卡罗转发了该中心的帖子，并调侃自己“甚至从未去过俄亥俄州”，而他的新闻秘书则指责这些说法是“可悲的阴谋论”。
Talarico reshared the centre’s post and quipped that he had “never even been to Ohio”, while his press secretary blasted the claims as “a pathetic conspiracy theory”.
此事凸显了未经核实的谣言如何在互联网上迅速传播，是近期搅动德州激烈竞争选举的最新一起错误信息事件。
The saga, which underscores how rapidly unverified rumours can race across the internet, is the latest case of misinformation to ruffle the hotly contested Texas race.
塔利卡罗此前已经面临过人工智能生成的攻击和无根据的指控，称他是素食者——这在以烧烤为主的南方州看来显然是一种不合格的饮食选择。
Talarico has already faced artificial intelligence-generated s and baseless claims that he is vegan, an apparently disqualifying dietary choice in the barbecue-heavy southern state.
在他缺席竞选活动的最后阶段，即11月3日大选前夕，帕克斯顿和特朗普对他的缺席进行嘲讽，使得关于他行踪的质疑在上一周愈发激烈。
Questions about his whereabouts intensified over the previous week as Paxton and Trump mocked his absence in the final stretch before the Nov 3 election.
当亲特朗普的网红发布了一段通话片段时，这些问题演变成了阴谋论。自称“右翼挑衅者”的莱茵·阿马切尔声称他在10月10日给俄亥俄州的设施打了电话，通话中一名员工似乎说塔利卡罗刚刚出院。
The questions morphed into conspiracy theories when pro-Trump influencers released a snippet of a call that self-described “right-wing provocateur” Rhein Amacher said he placed Oct 10 to the Ohio facility, in which an employee seemed to say Talarico had just been discharged.
观察者很快指出时间线上的不一致：塔利卡罗当天参加了在达拉斯举办的乡村歌手凯西·马斯格雷夫斯的音乐会，并且前一天就在奥斯汀进行了竞选活动。他还在患流感期间举办了虚拟竞选活动。
Observers quickly pointed out inconsistencies in the timeline: Talarico attended a Dallas concert for country artist Kacey Musgraves that same day – and campaigned in Austin the day before. He had also held virtual campaign events while battling influenza.
此后，几位保守派评论员收回了他们之前推动塔利卡罗正在俄亥俄州接受治疗这一叙述的帖子，但阿马切尔告诉法新社，他坚持自己的指控。
Several conservative commentators have since walked back their posts pushing the narrative about Talarico seeking treatment in Ohio, but Amacher told AFP he stands by his allegations.
然而，网上发布的该通话更长录音显示，阿马切尔所通话的操作员反复表示，她在系统中未找到塔利卡罗的任何记录。
A longer recording of the call published online, however, reveals that the operator Amacher spoke to repeatedly said she was finding no record of Talarico in their system.
完整录音显示，阿马切尔在提供名字为“Tim”后得以接通，他说自己正试图给表亲寄送一个关怀包裹，并提供了一个四位数的患者编码。法新社尚未独立核实该通话的真实性。
Amacher got through after giving his name as “Tim”, saying he was trying to send a care package to a cousin and providing a four-digit patient code, the full recording shows. AFP has not independently verified the authenticity of the call.
联邦医疗隐私法律通常禁止机构共享患者信息，而该中心的网站表示，要求来电者提供由患者确定的编码。
Federal medical privacy laws generally prohibit institutions from sharing patient information, and the centre’s website says it requires callers to provide a code determined by the patient.
阿马彻在X平台上承认，当被要求提供密码时，他“干脆随便编了一个”。
Amacher admitted on X that when asked for the code, he “simply made one up”.