RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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See the full story · 5 sourcesKentucky senator was hospitalized in June, and he, his office and his wife have largely remained mum about it, sparking wild speculation about the former majority leader’s condition
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The office of Sen. Mitch McConnell and the Senate’s attending physician released updates about the senator’s condition on Monday as wild speculation about his health continues online and in the media amid the Kentucky Republican’s secrecy about it all.
As President Donald Trump pressed Majority Leader John Thune to get his voter ID bill passed in the Senate, a press release from McConnell’s office included a photo of the 84-year-old senator smiling and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, with him at his hospital bedside.
“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders,” wrote McConnell, who lamented that he would not be able to attend the annual “Fancy Farm” event in Kentucky this year as a result of his recovery.
“As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon.”
The Senate’s attending physician said that McConnell was improving but not yet cleared for release. The physician stated that McConnell continues to suffer difficulties resulting from his childhood battle with polio.
McConnell’s initial hospitalization in June came after a fall in his home, which resulted in him losing consciousness. At 84, he’s faced similar challenges before and in 2023 was hospitalized with a concussion after falling at a hotel.
“Senator McConnell continues his recovery from a fall at home in June. OAP physicians visit with the Senator every day, discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care. Since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls.
“His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility. He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
Critics of McConnell on both sides of the aisle spread wild conspiracy theories about the senator having died and that being covered up as information about his condition was sparse for weeks after his initial hospitalization in June.
His colleagues, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Majority Whip John Barrasso, and former aide-turned-CNN pundit Scott Jennings released statements or claimed publicly to have spoken with him, hoping to tamp down on the speculation.
In mid-July, he released his first lengthy statement concerning his hospitalization, stating for the first time that he’d suffered a fall and releasing a picture of himself and Chao, smiling at his bedside.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell said in the July 12 update. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.”
The image his office shared on July 12 was attacked online by conspiracy theorists, including one connected to the White House and the president — Laura Loomer. Loomer claimed, without proof, that the image was AI-generated; she’d previously claimed that a “high-level source close to the White House” told her that McConnell was “brain dead” and “not coming back.”
Eagle-eyed experts confirmed that the photo was not faked or re-shared from an old image, however.
In the bitterly divided Senate, McConnell’s vote and by extension his ability to appear on the Hill are of paramount importance.
The former GOP leader is a reliable vote for his party and the president in the upper chamber, where Republicans have just a 53-47 majority, but he has used his status and tenure to mount opposition against the administration at times when it challenges the Senate GOP’s ability to govern or grow their numbers, such as when he came out against the president’s planned DOJ “weaponization” fund.
Once the most powerful Republican in the Senate, McConnell has taken a mostly backseat role since stepping down as leader of his caucus. That’s due in part to his declining health; he’s often spotted in a wheelchair now on the Hill, and at press conferences McConnell faced several instances where he froze up and stopped talking, before being led away by concerned colleagues.
His end of term at the conclusion of 2026 will mark the end of a more than four-decade run in the upper chamber. McConnell isn’t standing for re-election this year, and his seat is likely to be won by another Republican.
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