US senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about the Kentucky Republican’s condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.

The statement included a smiling picture of McConnell with his wife, Elaine Chao, a tacit response to speculation online that he had died or was incapacitated. McConnell held a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section in his hand.

  • qarbone@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    6
    ·
    14 hours ago

    Why a photo? Video is cheaper than chips: record a 10 second video where he says “hello.”

  • CADmonkey@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    9
    ·
    19 hours ago

    Didn’t a report say the EMT’s were performing CPR?

    Im sure performing cpr on an 84 year old leaves them withou any injuries/bruising/broken ribs…

    • bluesheep@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      5
      ·
      18 hours ago

      When I was taught CPR they said that, if you do apply the needed amount of force that you will almost certainly break a rib. Ain’t no way in hell a 84 year old will survive CPR without a broken rib

    • hume_lemmy@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      14 hours ago

      Well, he’s in a hospital. Maybe he just saw a little kid die and it lifted his spirits.

  • yarirab@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    25
    ·
    2 days ago

    I looked into the timeline and there are still some unanswered questions. McConnell was hospitalized after his fall on June 14, 2026. Elaine Chao reportedly left for China on June 17, 2026, and the “proof of life” photo with her was posted on July 12, 2026.

    when was that photo actually taken? The original photo file and metadata haven’t been released, so nobody outside his team can verify the date or time it was taken.

  • LoafedBurrito@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    15
    ·
    1 day ago

    Yeah, I don’t believe he is well. At his age, a fall and CPR aren’t going to let him live that much longer if the news reports are correct.

    Then again, in a fascist country, we can’t trust the news, so who the hell knows.

    • SelfHigh5@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      19 hours ago

      In my time spent as a nurse, and I guess also just as a person alive for 45 years, elderly people taking a fall is the beginning of the end. The cascade of events that occur as a result of the initial fall is tantamount in my view to terminal cancer. That’s the end. There is no substantial recovery and problems compound.

      Stay upright out there!

    • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      11
      ·
      2 days ago

      I’ve seen posts all over from people using AI to generate similar photos.

      it can’t be ruled out.

      Graham happened to fast and unexpectedly for them to weekend at bernies him, but they’ve had plenty of time to prep for McConnell.

    • forkDestroyer@infosec.pub
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 day ago

      I feel like they used AI when Trump first had the face droop and needed to make that speech. Was that confirmed?

      Edit: droop, not drool

      • Ann Archy@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        4
        ·
        1 day ago

        Notice that ever since then he’s had the droop.

        Maybe half of his face suddenly stopped believing his bullshit.

    • saigot@lemmy.ca
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      3
      ·
      1 day ago

      I’m only casually following us politics but what would the advantage of delaying announcing his death be (and why wouldn’t the same apply to Lindsey Graham).

      • BeardededSquidward@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        6
        ·
        1 day ago

        It’s about trying to maintain as much control over the senate as possible before the midterms hit. If he really died there would have to be a special election for a temporary senator. If it were a Democrat win, it might be hard to displace them as there’s rarely movement of who sits in a senate seat.

  • jpreston2005@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    14
    ·
    2 days ago

    It’s a good thing lindsey graham died, or else the collective disappointment over this fucker living would’ve sent the U.S. into open revolt

    …shit

    • Jarix@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      ·
      1 day ago

      Is much rather the US just openly revolt. Get it over with already and stop dragging everyone through this shitshow with them

      • BioDriver@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        8
        ·
        2 days ago

        Oh I absolutely agree that it looks like photoshop, but I’m saying if he’s claiming to be alive then the KY Gov should try scheduling a face to face meeting

        • HumanBeing@mastodon.social
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          ·
          2 days ago

          @BioDriver Yep. You were totally clear. I agree that Beshear needs contact with the live body. In the meantime, he’s dead based on all the lies circulating from the wh and chao.

  • OBJECTION!@lemmy.ml
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    103
    ·
    2 days ago

    Say what you will about Lindsey Graham, but it was fucked up for them to drain his life energy to revive McConnell like that.

  • stickly@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    134
    ·
    2 days ago

    I just want to step back and appreciate the absurdity that, regardless of the cause, voters have absolutely no way to even initiate a replacement process for a senator that has failed to even show up in public (let alone do his job) for a month.

    • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      98
      ·
      2 days ago

      Yes, and McConnell’s not the only one. Thomas Kean, a Republican representative for NJ, just came back after four months of total silence about where he was or why he was gone, for example.

      We’re only hearing from McConnell now because if he had not done something to end the speculation about whether he was even alive, Gov. Beshear would have called a special election to fill his seat out from under him.

      What REALLY grinds my gears, though, is that the ones doing it are Republicans, the ones repeatedly voting against those same protections for any one of us that might also have cause to be absent from work: they vote against universal healthcare, they vote against minimum paid leave, they vote against the entire social safety net at every chance they get.

      The bastard smiling in that bed might as well be holding a piece of paper in his hand that says fuck you I got mine because that’s exactly what it’s a picture of.

      • phutatorius@lemmy.zip
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        11
        ·
        2 days ago

        the ones repeatedly voting against those same protections for any one of us

        At least they’re consistent: “I’ve got mine, so fuck you.”

      • wonderingwanderer@sopuli.xyz
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        5
        ·
        2 days ago

        Thomas Kean, a Republican representative for NJ, just came back after four months of total silence about where he was or why he was gone, for example.

        I wonder how the weather was in Moscow…

    • nocturne@slrpnk.net
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      40
      ·
      2 days ago

      Imagine not going into work for a month, no call no show for a month, and still having a job, and getting paid for that month while you were MIA.