Mitch McConnell was dramatically wheeled out of his home and taken to the Senate on Monday afternoon—92 days after he was last seen alive.
He was carried backwards out of his Capitol Hill town house in a wheelchair by aides, and briefly raised his hand. But he did not speak as he was loaded into a wheelchair-adapted minivan and driven away. He lives a block from the Capitol building. He appeared thinner and even frailer than before, and was wearing orthopedic running shoes.
The Kentucky senator was moved in time for the Senate’s first vote since early August, arriving in the Capitol itself shortly after. He had previously missed 60 votes in the Senate since he was hospitalized.
When he arrived outside the Senate, he spoke briefly, saying, “After two years, two decades, of dodging your questions, I wasn’t sure how many of you would be here today,” he said to reporters, before being wheeled into the chamber of the Senate itself. “I’m glad to see you, time to get back to work.”
Punchbowl News reporter Andrew Desiderio described his speech as “noticeably slower.”
McConnell’s wife Elaine Chao was absent, but he was accompanied by his $226,000-a-year chief of staff, Terry Carmack.
When he reached the floor of the Senate, he was approached by Republican senator John Barrasso, who as well as being the second most senior Republican, is a physician. Retiring Democratic senator Dick Durbin also approached him, shook his hand, and said “welcome back.”
Senators had to lean in to hear him as he quietly spoke to them on the Senate floor. It appeared the senators who greeted him did more of the talking than he did.
McConnell was moved from his home at almost the same moment as his X account posted a new statement saying, “Today, I’ll cast my first Senate vote since I took a bad fall back in June. My recovery has been a long and often frustrating process, and the lingering effects of childhood polio haven’t made it any easier. I’m still not quite back to 100%, but I’ve assured [Senate Majority] Leader [John] Thune that, as I continue with physical therapy on the advice of my doctors, I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me.”
The 84-year-old senator’s appearance 92 days after he vanished from public view came as the Senate returned from its five-week August recess.
But there were still major unanswered questions.
First, his wife was absent, as she has been at crucial times, including of his original hospitalization.
But more importantly, the senator and his office did not provide a clear medical diagnosis, any medical documentation including a statement from his medical team, and they did not explain why Washington D.C. paramedics had given him CPR. They also did not address what lasting effects he has suffered from the “fall” or what effects the “mild” pneumonia an earlier statement had said he had been treated for.
For weeks, the Kentucky senator’s team has refused to provide updates on his recovery since he was rushed to the hospital on June 14.
After McConnell was hospitalized in June, dispatch audio revealed that emergency responders rushed to his address for a person who was unconscious and administered CPR at the scene.
Nearly a month later, McConnell’s team released a statement attributed to the senator claiming he had suffered a fall and was briefly unconscious. It said that he did not suffer a stroke or heart attack.
McConnell’s team has remained largely tight-lipped ever since, refusing to answer multiple inquiries about his condition and progress from the Daily Beast.
Throughout the summer, the senator did not attend a series of annual Kentucky events he has frequented in the past due to his hospitalization and recovery.
The last update on his progress McConnell’s team provided was when it released a statement on August 6 attributed to the senator that claimed he had been released from a rehabilitation center and would continue his recovery at home.
Critics have been calling for the former majority leader to provide “proof of life” for months. McConnell did not release any videos or speak with a single media outlet during his absence.
All his team provided were two pictures of McConnell smiling at the camera with his wife Elaine Chao at his side. Both were released in July, and there had been no visual update since.
However, Republican Senate leaders, including John Thune and John Barrasso, both claimed to have spoken to McConnell multiple times since he disappeared, including lengthy discussions of policy. His former aide and CNN contributor Scott Jennings also insisted he had spoken to his old boss about the midterms and policy. None of them provided corroborating evidence to back their claims.
According to Politico, McConnell’s team had told senior Republicans that he would be back in time for a committee vote on the farm bill on Wednesday, meaning his return was ahead of plan.
Rep. James Comer said last week that he expected the senator to return when the recess ended on September 14, but he had not spoken directly with the senator. Rep. Andy Barr, who is running for McConnell’s seat, said he had both texted McConnell and had a phone call with him, but that was more than a month ago.
