Kari Lake turns James Talarico’s flu recovery into a ridiculous ‘bottom surgery’ conspiracy theory

As right-wing influencers spread conspiracy theories about Texas Senate candidate James Talarico, Kari Lake floated a baseless claim targeting his support for LGBTQ+ rights. The former Arizona Senate candidate implied in a social media post that the LGBTQ+ ally took time off the campaign trail for gender-affirming surgery.

Lake, who unsuccessfully ran for Arizona governor and U.S. Senate, has served as a senior adviser at the U.S. Agency for Global Media under President Donald Trump. Trump also nominated her as U.S. ambassador to Jamaica, but her confirmation remains pending. A federal judge ruled in March that her separate service as the media agency’s acting CEO violated federal law.

Related: Ken Paxton accuses James Talarico of flip-flopping on trans issues

Lake joined online speculation fueled in part by Trump’s claim that Talarico had been absent for 12 days. In fact, nine days separated his public appearances. He participated virtually in a U.S. Hispanic Business Council event on September 30, then returned to public campaigning at the Austin City Limits music festival on October 9, according to The Texas Tribune. His campaign said he was recovering from the flu.

On October 8, Lake posted a screenshot of an AI inquiry on X: “In one sentence, how long does it take to recover from ‘bottom surgery?’” The response suggested about six to eight weeks to return to normal work activities.

Related: Ken Paxton’s new anti-trans attack on James Talarico is literally fake

Even the timeline in Lake’s screenshot did not align with Talarico’s absence. His campaign had already explained that a bout with the flu had taken a toll because Talarico has Type 1 diabetes.

Lake’s claim wasn’t the predominant right-wing explanation for Talarico’s absence. Many MAGA influencers rallied around an unsupported claim that Talarico checked himself into a mental health facility in Ohio, something the Ohio clinic explicitly denied.

MAGA commentators, including Carmine Sabia, issued rare retractions after having spread the false narrative around Talarico’s mental health. "I apologize for sharing the false report about James Talarico receiving mental health treatment. I relied on the reporting available then, but I got it wrong and retract it," he wrote on X.

Others embraced Lake’s equally unsupported suggestion. Lake had posted her message in response to a post by Caroline Wren, whose “America First” account has more than 55,000 followers. Wren questioned why Talarico hadn’t been posting daily about his illness, then quickly endorsed Lake’s claim.

“This explains so much,” Wren replied.

The pro-Trump account “Celtic Mission” posted an online poll asking whether Talarico was depressed “because she had the top surgery” or “because he had the bottom surgery.”

The account Tim the Tool Man, which lists a professional association with right-wing YouTuber Steven Crowder, posted, “James Talarico is recovering from bottom surgery.”

Progressive accounts ridiculed the claims, including one that questioned the supposed timing of a procedure just weeks before Election Day.

“My favorite part of this conspiracy is that James Talarico would just suddenly decide to get ‘bottom surgery’ one month before the election at the age of 37,” posted the account DirtbagLeft. “Like he could have simply wanted another month to avoid suspicion. He would have already waited 37 years.”