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 Oswego, Oregon, resident Ryan Amacher, known online as Rhein Amacher, has described Muslims as “sub-human”, claimed that Black Africans are “monkeys” with low IQ, characterized immigrants as “vermin” and expressed support for the far right, including Germany’s AfD and the UK’s Tommy Robinson. His attempt to damage Talarico’s campaign with false claims about a supposed inpatient admission to an Ohio facility fell apart quickly on Sunday night, but not before his claims were boosted by a staffer on the campaign of Talarico’s Republican rival, Ken Paxton.
Since working for the Trump campaign in 2024, he has remained in the milieu of Republican politics and rightwing influencers. Neither Amacher nor the Paxton campaign responded to requests for comment. Last week, Amacher phoned the Lindner Center of Hope, a psychiatric hospital in Mason, Ohio, three times, trying to confirm a false rumor that Talarico had been admitted there.
The rumor apparently began with a 9 October post by an anonymous X account, TickleTexts, which claimed Talarico had been “hospitalized at Lindner Center for HOPE”, and was picked up by the Republican fundraiser Caroline Wren, who falsely tied it to a private flight between Ohio and Austin. Before calling, Amacher had posted as fact that Talarico “was hospitalized at the @LindnerCtrHope” and tagged the hospital asking it to confirm. In the full recording of the second call, he gives his name as “Tim”, says he wants to send a care package to his cousin, and offers a four-digit patient code.
For most of the six-minute call the employee tells him she has no record of Talarico. In its final seconds she says a man that looks like Talarico “was just discharged this evening”. An excerpt of the recording was incorporated into a 47-second clip that Nick Sortor posted on Sunday afternoon under the headline “Ohio mental hospital CONFIRMS James Talarico was discharged from the facility earlier this week”.
Amacher posted his own version minutes later, and Elon Musk replied with a characteristic “!!”. Amacher had first offered the recording to Blaze Media and the Daily Mail, which reportedly declined to run it, and said in an X Space that evening that influencers are “not held to the same journalistic standards”. By Tuesday he had reportedly pulled out of an interview with the writer and podcaster Jesse Singal, saying his attorney had given him a “stand down order”.
The purported legal advice coincides with coverage of the fiasco, which has included speculation that Amacher’s attempt to access private health information may land him in legal trouble. Previous coverage, however, has not probed Amacher’s long history of extremist commentary. Amacher often invokes Nazi Germany, and the paramilitary movement that preceded it, with apparent admiration.
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