Key player in false Talarico rumor has history of online posts invoking Nazi Germany
Ryan Amacher, who played role in bid to damage campaign, has also made antisemitic and racist posts on social media An influencer who played a key role in hoax claims that James Talarico was in a mental health facility has a long history of social media posts that favorably invoke Nazi Germany, express antisemitism and anti-Black racism, criticize miscegenation and call for “remigration” of refugees. On X, the Lake…
Key points
- Ryan Amacher spread a false claim that James Talarico was hospitalized at an Ohio psychiatric facility.
- The Lindner Center of Hope denied Talarico had ever been a patient there.
- The Guardian reports Amacher has a long history of antisemitic, racist and Nazi-referencing posts.
Ryan Amacher, an influencer based in Lake Oswego, Oregon, who is known online as Rhein Amacher, played a central role in spreading false claims that James Talarico had been in a mental health facility, the Guardian reports. The article says Amacher also has a long history of social media posts that favorably invoke Nazi Germany and express antisemitism and anti-Black racism.
The hoax fell apart on Sunday night after the Lindner Center of Hope, a psychiatric hospital in Mason, Ohio, issued a statement denying that Talarico had ever been a patient there. Before that, the claims had been boosted by a staffer on the campaign of Talarico's Republican rival, Ken Paxton.
How the rumor spread
According to the article, the rumor began with an October 9 post by an anonymous X account, TickleTexts, and was picked up by Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren. Amacher called the hospital three times and posted that Talarico had been hospitalized there, tagging the facility to ask it to confirm.
An excerpt of a call recording was used in a 47-second clip posted by Nick Sortor on Sunday afternoon, and Amacher posted his own version minutes later. Amacher later told the Guardian that the facility's statement contradicted what he was told on the call, and said "more thorough fact-checking and independent verification should have occurred on my end".
more thorough fact-checking and independent verification should have occurred on my end before the information was shared publicly
— Ryan Amacher
History of extremist posts
The Guardian reports that Amacher has often invoked Nazi Germany and the Freikorps, the paramilitary units that crushed leftwing uprisings after the first world war. The article cites posts describing Muslims as "sub-human", calling Black Africans "monkeys" with low IQ, characterizing immigrants as "vermin" and expressing support for Germany's AfD and the UK's Tommy Robinson.
The article also cites posts criticizing miscegenation and more than 30 posts since November 2025 using the word "remigration". The Paxton campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
