Talk about an October surprise!

Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, 37, disappeared off the campaign trail for more than 10 days, claiming a bad case of the flu. Now his office is denying reports that he spent the time in a mental health facility in Ohio, after conservative influencer Nick Sortor posted an unverified audio recording purportedly of an employee of the Lindner Center of Hope near Cincinnati, saying a patient named James Talarico had just been discharged.

The Center issued a statement Sunday night, saying: “Representative James Talarico has never received treatment from Lindner Center of Hope.” Talarico’s campaign called the allegation “a pathetic conspiracy theory.”

But that isn’t enough from the party that propped up Joe Biden for years and lied about his health problems. Democrats don’t get the benefit of the doubt anymore.

When a candidate in such a crucial race goes missing for so long in the final month before the election, the situation demands proof beyond an airy flu excuse and “trust me” attitude.