One of Mitch McConnell’s longtime confidantes claims he spoke to the Senate Republican at length on Tuesday, offering the most detailed public account yet of his condition since he was found unconscious in his home and admitted to hospital.
“I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky,” CNN’s MAGA mouthpiece Scott Jennings wrote on X.
“He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 20 minutes … about IRAN, UKRAINE, the unfolding situation in MAINE, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history.”
Jennings added: “I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible.”
The statement comes almost a month after McConnell, 84, was hospitalized following what emergency responders found him at his Washington D.C residence after an apparent cardiac arrest on June 14.
Jennings’ comments were made after a number of MAGA figures demanded that McConnell’s aides provide proof that he is still alive.
But his office has released only limited updates, saying he is receiving “excellent care,” is improving, and has remained engaged with Senate business during his recovery.
“Of course it is the great RINO Republican establishment hack and paid McConnell consultant that comes out with “proof of life.” So pathetic you can’t even make it up," said former Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Green.
Despite repeated questions from the Daily Beast, McConnell’s team has also refused to provide new information about his treatment, his condition, or whether he will ever be able to return to work.
His hospitalization even prompted unverified claims circulated by far-right activist Laura Loomer that he was “brain dead” and would not return to Congress.
The mystery merely intensified after it emerged that his wife, former Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, traveled to Beijing and met with Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in the lead up to his hospitalization. She has been elusive ever since.
A former senior adviser to McConnell who managed his successful 2002 Senate campaign, Jennings has remained one of the Kentucky Republican’s closest allies and most prominent public defenders.
But many were highly skeptical of his comments.
“So the person vouching that Mitch is alive and lucid is the well-known truth teller Scott Jennings who also wants his seat,” quipped former Republican turned editor of MeidasTouch Ron Filipkowski shared a similar sentiment.
Political strategist turned content creator Mike Nellis added: “I don’t believe this one bit — if McConnell were able to take a call from Jennings, they’d be able to put out a video of him letting everyone know he’s okay given the rumors of him on life support."
“Don’t believe this BS,” he wrote.
Curiously, Senate Majority Leader John Thune also pushed out a statement through a spokesperson on Tuesday after extended silence on the matter.
“McConnell talked to Thune and Barrasso — yesterday and today, respectively,“ NOTUS reporter Al Weaver Wrote on X.
“Per a Thune spox: ‘Leader Thune spoke with Sen. McConnell yesterday by phone. They had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security’.”
McConnell, who stepped down as Senate Republican leader earlier this year after nearly two decades in the role, has faced a series of health challenges in recent years, including multiple falls and several highly publicized episodes in which he froze while speaking to reporters.
His absence has coincided with a busy period for Congress, as Republicans navigate major foreign policy debates and negotiations over Donald Trump’s legislative agenda.
