GOP leaders said they spoke with him. Some House Republicans and Kentucky's Democratic governor are calling for transparency about Mitch McConnell's condition.Show Caption
It's been nearly a month since the longest-serving party leader in the Senate was rushed to a Washington, DC, hospital, yet Mitch McConnell's staff and family members remain tight-lipped about details.To quell the mounting curiosity, the top GOP leaders and a CNN acolyte shared accounts of lengthy phone calls with the Kentucky Republican. In the meantime, public speculation and unsavory "Weekend at Bernie's" type rumors of his demise seem to have taken over the internet.So what's really going on with the 84-year-old lawmaker who has been out of view since mid-June?Here's a roundup of USA TODAY's latest coverage on McConnell's health condition and the related fallout:Where is McConnell?Spokesperson David Popp confirmed that McConnell was admitted to a DC hospital on the morning of June 14."He is receiving excellent care," Popp said.In the weeks since, McConnell's office has offered minimal details about what prompted the senator to seek medical attention. On July 7, his staff told USA TODAY his health was improving."The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session," McConnell's office said in a statement to USA TODAY."Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital," it added.What have Elaine Chao and other McConnell family members said?Elaine Chao, who served as Transportation secretary during President Donald Trump's first term and Labor secretary under President George W. Bush, has been married to McConnell for decades. Days after he was hospitalized, on June 17, the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, released a photograph of Chao seated with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before a painting of the Great Wall in Beijing.When news outlets learned Chao had been abroad during McConnell's hospitalization, it fueled a new round of unfounded conspiracy theories.She returned this week, and a spokesperson told USA TODAY Network's Louisville Courier Journal, "The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family's philanthropic endeavors. During the trip, she met with a number of people, including the US ambassador. The Senator's health did not warrant an immediate return to the US.”Chao's staff did not say whether she'd been in contact with McConnell since returning home, according to CBS affiliate station WLKY. She left for the trip to China on June 12, just two days before McConnell was hospitalized, according to the outlet.Also amid the swirling news cycle, the Kentucky senator's youngest daughter, Porter McConnell, deleted her social media account on X, according to the Independent.What McConnell allies said about his health and the memes that followedAmid calls for transparency and speculation about a cover-up, the former GOP leader's office released a series of statements from Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso and Scott Jennings, a conservative CNN pundit and McConnell ally. When a CNN colleague, Kasie Hunt, later asked Jennings to give the senator another call on air, he passed.Thune, Barrasso and Jennings separately said they'd spoken to the senator in an apparent effort to assuage worried constituents and political observers. However, their statements triggered a flood of related memes from an array of people, mockingly stating they had also spoken with the senator.Democratic Kentucky governor urges transparencyKentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, sent a letter on July 8 to McConnell's Senate office, urging the veteran lawmaker to "fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health," noting that constituents in the Bluegrass State have grown "increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate.""As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent," Beshear wrote in the brief letter. "I believe this requires clear communication about one's ability to serve."GOP House members draw parallels to Joe BidenRepublican House members also began demanding transparency about McConnell’s health, reviving debate over age and health disclosures for senior lawmakers.At least two GOP lawmakers took to social media this week,, saying U.S. officials must be forthcoming with voters about long absences. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-South Carolina, compared the lengthy silence to what happened during the final months of former President Joe Biden's 2024 campaign, when his mental acuity became a focal point, and ultimately forced him to leave the race."If McConnell is in as bad a shape as Biden ever was – or worse – he needs to step aside," Mace said in a July 9 post on X. "This charade can't continue. We can't demand of others what we won't demand of ourselves."Separately, Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Indiana, mentioned Biden's faltering 2024 debate performance against Donald Trump, which resulted in the then-president's startling exit from the race.What emergency dispatch audio, neighbor video indicate about McConnell's conditionEmergency medical services dispatch, posted to social media by journalist Desiree Townsend, indicates that an advanced life support unit was called to Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Washington, DC, residence after a person was reported to be unconscious at his DC residence last month, prompting an advanced life support response.Townsend, who covers Capitol Hill as an independent journalist, posted the audio from an EMS dispatch call to her X account on June 30. A dispatcher can be heard calling for an “ALS,” or advanced life support response, for an unconscious person.Fire and EMS officials in DC told USA TODAY they could neither confirm nor comment about the authenticity of the audio recording, citing medical privacy laws.An unnamed neighbor of McConnell filmed the video of the ambulance outside his home, according to CNN.The video shows first responders wheeling a person on a stretcher toward an ambulance, with their legs covered by an orange blanket and feet were visible. Officials reportedly told the neighbor they were responding to a "medical emergency," CNN said.McConnell’s health history and recent health setbacksThe former Senate leader suffered from polio as a child. In recent years, the former Majority Leader faced a series of health setbacks.McConnell appeared to freeze in place while speaking to reporters on two separate occasions in 2023 incidents. He also suffered several falls and began using a wheelchair at times as a precaution.He was hospitalized in February after experiencing flu-like symptoms, a spokesperson said at the time. He was discharged after eight days.This article has been updated to add new information.Contributing: USA TODAY's Zachary Schermele, Phillip M. Bailey, Melina Khan, Drew Pittock; Lucas Aulbach, Louisville Courier Journal
