A number of MAGA figures are demanding that Sen. Mitch McConnell’s aides provide proof that the 84-year-old is still alive nearly a month after he was hospitalized.
Speculation about the Kentucky Republican is continuing to intensify as his team refuses to provide new information about his treatment, his condition, or whether he will ever be able to return to work after he was hospitalized on June 14.
McConnell’s team has repeatedly issued the same statement, saying he “appreciates the outpouring of support” while he continues treatment after he was found unconscious and requiring CPR at his Washington, D.C., home following an apparent cardiac arrest.
The mystery surrounding the seriousness of McConnell’s condition escalated after it emerged that the senator’s wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, 73, traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng three days after McConnell’s hospitalization.
Far-right activist Laura Loomer has claimed, citing unnamed sources, that McConnell is in a “vegetative state,” or “brain dead,” and is “not coming back.”
Independent journalist Desirée Townsend, who obtained EMS dispatch audio from when McConnell was found unconscious at his home, added that she had heard “the same thing from my sources” for days and is now waiting at the hospital for when his family “eventually decides to move him off life support.”
A number of other MAGA figures have demanded that McConnell’s office issue an update confirming that the former Senate Republican leader is still alive, while also questioning why it has not already done so.
“McConnell’s staff should produce proof of the senator’s condition one way or another right now,” Matthew Boyle, the Washington bureau chief for conservative news site Breitbart, posted on X.
MAGA influencer Catturd posted to his 4 million X followers: “It’s really easy for Mitch McConnell’s team to prove he’s still alive and well. Just do a video from the hospital. Why won’t they do it?”
McConnell’s staff is led by his longtime, camera-shy aide Terry Carmack, who is on track to earn more than $226,000 this year.
Elsewhere, top Donald Trump ally Steve Bannon has promoted online speculation that the senator’s office is shielding his condition from the public to “avoid triggering a special election” that would allow outgoing Kentucky GOP Rep. Thomas Massie to run as an independent.
If McConnell were to resign or be found unable to continue serving before Aug. 3, Kentucky law would allow Gov. Andy Beshear to call a special election. After Aug. 3, a special election to replace McConnell and fill the remainder of his term would coincide with the general election in November.
MAGA Utah Sen. Mike Lee has rejected speculation that lawmakers are complicit in trying to hide McConnell’s condition from the public.
“Many of us aren’t speaking about Mitch McConnell’s condition because we know nothing about his condition,” Lee wrote in reply to a MAGA X account suggesting that senators are “all in on it together.”
However, Senate Majority Leader John Thune claimed last month that he had spoken to McConnell in the days after the 84-year-old was hospitalized and suggested he “sounded good.”
“He wants to be back, but I’ll defer to his staff on when,” Thune said on June 15.
McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in history, has seen his final years in office plagued by a series of health scares and injuries.
These include medical episodes in which he froze and stopped speaking mid-sentence, as well as multiple falls, one of which resulted in him needing to use a wheelchair.
The Daily Beast has contacted McConnell’s office for comment.
