SerpApi.Org
Kentucky politicians have thrown up a wall of silence around the bizarre mystery over Senator Mitch McConnell’s illness.
It has been nearly six weeks since McConnell cast a vote in the Senate, just days before he was rushed to the hospital on June 14 by emergency responders.
Since then, the only image of him released, despite his aides and GOP Senate leadership insisting he’s on the mend, has been a picture of him smiling with his wife, Elaine Chao, put out by his office last week.
There have been no videos put out or calls to the media from the 84-year-old to reassure the skeptical public of his progress amid accusations of a massive cover-up.
And the Kentucky congressional delegation, including Senate Republican Rand Paul and the six GOP House members, is less than eager to weigh in on their missing senior member.
The Daily Beast made multiple requests for information with the offices of all seven other members of the Kentucky delegation about whether the members of Congress had been in contact with McConnell or even bothered to reach out to the former Senate Majority Leader. Our questions were largely met with silence.
Only Rep. Andy Barr’s office responded and simply pointed to the congressman and GOP Senate nominee’s comments in Lexington one month ago, where he told reporters after an event in Lexington that he had exchanged text messages with McConnell. That was on June 21.
The offices of Paul along with Reps. James Comer, Brett Guthrie, Morgan McGarvey, Thomas Massie and Hal Rogers did not say whether they’d been in contact with the senator or his staff.
It comes after Democratic Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear called for McConnell to reassure the people of Kentucky that he is making progress in his recovery beyond putting out one statement and a photo.
Beshear’s office confirmed with the Daily Beast on Tuesday that the governor has still not received “any communication whatsoever” from McConnell.
The Democratic governor and rising star in the party is now facing backlash for not going further by appointing a replacement or calling a special election amid McConnell’s radio silence.
Paul was captured refusing to answer questions about McConnell on Capitol Hill this week.
While Paul’s office did not respond to questions, the senator, whose relationship with McConnell in the past has been complicated, told a local Kentucky news station this week that he had not spoken to his state’s senior senator at all during his hospitalization or ongoing recovery.
Paul suggested, based on reports he’s been following, that McConnell could be back by next week, but he wouldn’t say whether he was satisfied with the updates so far. He said it was up to the people to decide.
The last statement McConnell’s office put out was on July 12, just after Sen. Lindsey Graham passed away unexpectedly. It was also the first time his office shared an image of the senator since his hospitalization.
In the statement, McConnell said he fell, which led to his hospitalization. He denied having a heart attack or stroke, but noted, “I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”
McConnell claimed that he’s making progress and was moved from hospital care to a rehabilitation center, where he’ll keep working hard to return to the Senate as soon as possible.
On Monday, Senate Majority Leader John Thune said in the hallway on Capitol Hill that he did not have any update on when McConnell would return, but Thune said that he had spoken to the Kentucky senator several days ago. Asked by a reporter how McConnell sounded, Thune said, “Good. Engaged.”
But a poll released by the Daily Mail this week indicated a growing number of voters are not convinced McConnell is alive. 30 percent said it was very believable, but 17 percent said it was not at all believable while 24 percent said neither.
