Republican Senator Ron Johnson claimed that Mitch McConnell’s “proof of life” photo is not a current one.
Appearing on Real America’s Voice on Monday, the Wisconsin senator, who is not one to shy away from conspiracy theories, said he heard from a source that his 84-year-old GOP colleague used an “older photo” to update the public on his condition following his hospitalization last month.
“I just heard from some, some other source that was an older photo, so I really don’t know,” Johnson told host Eric Bolling after being asked whether he believes McConnell shared the photo and statement himself on Sunday.
“I haven’t talked to Mitch, um, I sincerely wish his family well. I hope he can recover,” he continued. “Listen—it’s sad to watch people age, no matter who that person is.”
The 71-year-old senator said that he has served with McConnell for 16 years, and though they “disagree on a host of things,” he knows that his Kentucky colleague “loves his country” and “loves the Senate.”
“I wish him well. I hope he recovers. I hope he can come back and contribute to, and vote with, the president’s agenda,” he concluded.
Johnson isn’t the only right-winger to raise their eyebrows at McConnell’s photo and accompanying statement, which was supposedly written by the former Senate majority leader.
Far-right influencer and President Donald Trump’s “loyalty enforcer,” Laura Loomer, alleged that the image was “BS” and called for McConnell’s team to release a video of the senator. “The American people aren’t stupid,” she added.
Loomer also expressed skepticism over the claim that McConnell himself wrote the statement, which explained that he hadn’t suffered “a stroke or a heart attack” but had been taken to the hospital for a fall and was “briefly unconscious.”
“The text is blurry and the tag on his shirt is blurred,” Loomer said, alleging that the photo itself was generated by AI. “Also, if he’s in the hospital, why is there no IV connected to him to monitor his health? This is such bulls---. His staff are liars.”
McConnell’s staff is led by his longtime, camera-shy aide Terry Carmack, who is on track to earn more than $226,000 this year.
Former Fox News producer and MAGA firebrand Kylie Jane Kremer echoed Loomer’s calls for a video of McConnell, saying in a string of posts on social media that “the public deserves clear, direct proof that Senator McConnell is recovering.”
“WHERE IS THE METADATA ON THE ORIGINAL PHOTO OF MITCH McCONNELL?????????” Kremer wrote in one post.
MAGA podcaster Megyn Kelly also fanned the flames on Monday, saying on The Megyn Kelly Show that the situation seemed “a little off.”
“I don’t know what’s going on, but I don’t trust anyone anymore,” she told her guest, fellow conservative commentator Michael Knowles.
The mounting lack of public belief in the McConnell health claims raises questions over who is providing information to the public.
The statement issued by his office was unsigned, but his most powerful aide is the $226,000-a-year chief of staff, Terry Camack, a longtime member of McConnell’s entourage. He has declined to comment to the Daily Beast for days.
The other conduit of information has been Scott Jennings, the CNN commentator, who claimed to have had a 20-minute conversation with McConnell, about Iran, Ukraine, and the Maine senate race. But CNN disowned his repeated brags about his call with McConnell, saying he was simply recollecting his own “personal experience,” and that his claims had not been verified or fact-checked as would be the case for a CNN reporter.
