'Food poisoned by meat': Trump mocks James Talarico over campaign absence, as former Texas Chief Justice endorses Democrat

US President Donald Trump on Tuesday mocked Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico for his absence from the campaign trail earlier this month, baselessly suggesting that he might have a mental illness and joking that he had been 'food poisoned by meat'. "He's going around to so many barbecues, it's probably why, either that or he has a mental illness," Trump told a rally in Corpus Christi, Texas.

"Missing in action. Now I happen to think he was food poisoned by meat because he can't stand it," Trump added. Talarico returned to the campaign trail two weeks ago and dismissed speculation surrounding his absence, saying he had been sidelined by a severe case of the flu. Both his campaign and a mental health centre rejected as false a claim circulating in online conservative circles that he was receiving treatment for a stress-induced episode.

Trump has repeatedly mocked Talarico, falsely claiming that the Democrat is a secret vegan who forces himself to eat meat at campaign barbecues before vomiting backstage. "You ever see him go to a barbecue and he's trying to show 'I love the meat,'" the president said. "Where is he? He's behind the tent puking."

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Ex-Texas Supreme Court Chief Justice endorses Talarico

Tom Phillips, a longtime chief justice of the Texas Supreme Court and a staunch Republican, endorsed Democrat James Talarico in the Texas Senate race on Monday. In an op-ed published in the Austin American-Statesman, Phillips, who served as the state's chief justice from 1988 to 2004, said he believed Talarico would be a better representative of Texas in the Senate and would be more willing to engage in productive bipartisanship.

Phillips argued that Paxton, by contrast, would act as a Trump acolyte, enabling the president's excesses and self-dealing while steering the Republican Party away from principles Phillips believes it should uphold, including limited government and free enterprise. He also said Paxton's history of scandal would cast a shadow over his Senate tenure, regardless of his future conduct.

"However exemplary his future conduct might be, Paxton's longstanding reputation will embarrass Texas in ways our state simply cannot afford," Phillips wrote. "While I, like many Republicans, do not agree with all of Talarico's past statements or current positions, I am confident that he would serve this great state with dignity and honor."

Phillips said he believed other Republican candidates on the ballot were worthy of serving in office, but Paxton was not among them. "Thus, while I enthusiastically support the statewide Republican judicial candidates and many Republican candidates for other statewide offices, my choice for United States Senator must be James Talarico," Phillips wrote.