A month after being hospitalized for an undisclosed illness, Senator Mitch McConnell’s staff finally released a “proof of life” photo featuring him and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, in what appeared to be a hospital room.
The photo of a smiling McConnell and Chao was accompanied by a lengthy statement claiming that the Kentucky senator and former GOP Senate majority leader had fallen and then developed a “mild case” of pneumonia after being admitted.
But more than a week later – and nearly five weeks after his June 14 admission – McConnell remains hospitalized, and no further word from him or his spokespeople has been released.
As such, new doubts about the true state of his health are beginning to surface again, including from members of his own party.
“I don’t know anything about McConnell’s health,” Missouri Republican Sen. Josh Hawley told Fox News during a short interview that was posted Sunday on the X platform.
“I know zero, I’m totally in the dark,” he added. “I certainly wish him well and his family.”
Hawley added, “I do think that, you know, at a certain point you have an obligation to your constituents and the country to tell ’em, ‘What’s going on?’”
“I can’t do that for him, because I have zero idea – I’ve never had any idea about any of his health stuff,” the Missouri Republican continued.
“I hope he recovers but I also hope that they get the transparency out there and tell people, you know, what the situation is,” he said.
Hawley also said he’s for term limits.
Last week, other GOP senators also called for more information from McConnell, including Sen. Tommy Tuberville.
Alabama Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville is calling for more information about McConnell’s prolonged absence from the Senate.
“Somebody needs to do something,” Tuberville told Fox News Digital. “Somebody needs to come out.”
Tuberville said no additional information from Senate leadership about a timeline for when McConnell may come back or the status of his health has been given out internally to his colleagues.
“We didn’t get any information today in our luncheon,” Tuberville said last week.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but you know that’s not my business.”
In his post, McConnell claimed that his childhood fight with polio contributed to a fall that left him “briefly unconscious” and hospitalized last month — when some speculated he had suffered cardiac arrest.
According to the statement, McConnell did not suffer a heart attack or stroke, did not break any bones and was diagnosed with a mild case of pneumonia.
He said he was then hit with a “mild case of pneumonia” while in recovery, extending the healing process.
Fresh speculation surrounding McConnell’s health erupted Tuesday after conservative commentator Laura Loomer pointed to a newly published photograph of Chao as raising additional questions about his condition.
The photo showed Chao leaving the rehabilitation facility where McConnell is reportedly recovering while wearing a surgical mask, sunglasses and a long navy trench coat.
“Mitch McConnell’s wife Coco Chao was seen leaving the hospital today to visit her husband while wearing a mask,” Loomer wrote on X.
“Who on earth is still wearing a mask?”
Loomer argued the photograph suggested McConnell’s condition may be more serious than publicly disclosed.
“This is more evidence that McConnell’s health is so poor they are making people around him mask up.”
She also questioned why Chao was not wearing a mask in the photograph McConnell’s office released Sunday.
“Why wasn’t she wearing a mask in the photo McConnell’s staff released the other day? Just more evidence it was an AI photo or an older photo,” Loomer wrote.
