Sen. Mitch McConnell’s wife reportedly traveled to China just three days after he received CPR following an apparent heart attack.
Elaine Chao, 73, who has been married to the 84-year-old Republican lawmaker since 1993 and formerly served as transportation secretary in the first Trump administration, traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng just days after McConnell’s hospitalization.
Photos circulating in Chinese media show Chao sitting across from Zheng on June 17, reportedly discussing efforts to strengthen China–U.S. relations.
The timing of the visit adds further questions to a growing list McConnell’s aides have declined to answer since an EMS call made public this week revealed he had been hospitalized after suffering a heart attack on June 14, with an emergency dispatch sent to his Washington, D.C., residence.
Audio of the call was first revealed by journalist Desiree Townsend.
The Republican senator’s team has confirmed he is in the hospital but has offered no further details about his condition, including whether he is conscious or who is currently running his office.
“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” an emailed statement from his office reads. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Yet Dr. Jeremy Faust, an emergency physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and assistant professor at Harvard, has warned that McConnell’s condition could be more serious than his team is letting on, noting that most patients who survive CPR after a heart attack are not able to “take care of their bodily needs.”
“If it does work and we can restart their heart and their heart is beating spontaneously, that begins a long road to recovery, even for the healthiest of patients,” Faust said on Thursday night’s edition of Erin Burnett Outfront on CNN.
“So when you have a person who is elderly and who has other underlying medical conditions, it‘s really concerning,” he added.
McConnell has faced several health scares during his seven Senate terms, having first been elected to the Senate in 1985 and serving the longest tenure of any Kentucky senator, though concerns about his health have become more frequent and more serious in recent years.
In February, he spent eight days in the hospital after checking himself in “in an abundance of caution” following flu-like symptoms.
In October, he fell over at the Capitol after being approached by activists and was helped up by aides and Capitol Police. He was also seen being escorted out of the Capitol in a wheelchair after two falls in quick succession in February 2025.
The senator also fell during a Senate lunch in December 2024, and the year prior, was hospitalized after suffering a concussion and a minor rib fracture in another fall.
Democrat Charles Booker, who is seeking to replace McConnell, has questioned whether his team is trying to conceal the extent of his condition, suggesting he may no longer be fit to serve in office.
He noted that on June 22, when McConnell was already in the hospital, his spokesperson, David Popp, said only that he would not be voting, without addressing his medical condition.
But now that the public has learned CPR was administered, he said the two accounts are “hard to square,” adding that “Kentuckians and Americans deserve to know which one reflects reality.”
Given the seriousness of McConnell’s condition and the timing of photographs showing his wife engaging in diplomatic meetings in China despite holding no official government position, The Daily Beast asked the senator’s representatives:
- What are the dates of Ms. Chao’s travel to and from China?
- What was the nature and purpose of any meetings held during that visit?
- Is Senator McConnell conscious?
- Has Senator McConnell been able to resume duties in any capacity?
- Who is currently overseeing Senator McConnell’s office operations during his hospitalization?
McConnell’s representatives did not immediately respond.
