Mitch McConnell said his Mitch McConnell prolonged Senate absence began after a fall that sent him to the hospital on 14 June, and he said Sunday that he is now in a rehabilitation center. He also said he will not be returning to the Senate quite yet, after weeks in which his office gave little information about his condition.
McConnell and Elaine Chao
McConnell said he had undergone a battery of tests and had been briefly unconscious before being taken to the hospital. He wrote that he has dealt with a mild case of pneumonia while hospitalized and that he continues to work with his staff on Senate business. His statement included a smiling picture of him with Elaine Chao.
Andy Beshear on McConnell
The long silence drew public scrutiny because McConnell is 84 years old and his office had said only that he was receiving excellent care and recovering. Andy Beshear asked that McConnell update the public about his health in a transparent manner, and Cory Booker said, "This is just unfortunately an issue of politics in general: people don’t know when to gracefully step aside."
Cory Booker on age
McConnell said, "folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older" and added, "Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it." He also said, "I’ve submitted to every test they can think of to help figure out what caused this incident," and ruled out a broken bone, concussion, heart attack, stroke, tumors and hemorrhages. He said, "My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital."
The statement leaves the Senate side of the story unchanged for now: McConnell said he is recovering, but he also said he will not be returning quite yet. That puts the focus on how long rehabilitation lasts and when he decides he can resume work in person.
