MAGA influencers are not satisfied with Mitch McConnell’s baffling return to the Senate after 92 days away.
McConnell, 84, was wheeled into the U.S. Capitol by his staff on Monday, but the Kentucky Republican appeared incredibly frail after three months away—something even conservatives could not ignore.
“This is utterly pathetic that he is allowed to be a sitting Senator representing Americans,” wrote the MAGA account Gunther Eagleman to his 1.7 million followers on X. “The dude has no idea what is going on.”
Eagleman was resharing a viral clip of McConnell staring ahead and smiling in a car, his mouth slightly ajar. Reporters shout questions at him in the clip, but he did not acknowledge them at all.
Conservative commentator Eric Matheny also shared the clip.
“This is no different than when Democrats were parading brain-dead Joe Biden around the 2024 campaign trail like Weekend At Bernie’s,” he wrote on X. “We need Term Limits and age limits.”
Eagleman took his criticism up a notch in a follow-up post.
“Mitch McConnell should be on the short bus, not the Senate floor,” he wrote. “His family should be ashamed of themselves. Americans deserve better.”
The right-wing account “C3” shared a video montage of McConnell’s public health struggles, including him freezing twice in front of reporters and news cameras.
“Everything wrong with DC politics,” the account wrote. “Mitch McConnell belongs in a nursing home and not in Congress. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves. Sickening.”
Prediction markets are not confident that McConnell will resign before November’s midterms. He has just an eight percent chance of doing so on Polymarket and a 3.9 percent chance on Kalshi, down from a peak of about 35 percent when the senator had yet to provide a proof-of-life photo in late June and early July.
Punchbowl reported that journalists were barred from recording video of McConnell once he was inside the Capitol on Monday. Reporters there noted that he appeared frailer and that his already slow speech was even slower.
Photographers also captured a large, concerning bruise on his left hand. He spoke briefly to reporters, saying it was time to “finish the job.” McConnell’s term will end in January, and he is not seeking re-election.
Terry Carmack, McConnell’s longtime aide, who will make $226,000 this year, was constantly at the senator’s side during his return. He periodically leaned forward to speak quietly to McConnell on the Senate floor as he cast a vote on Monday for the first time in over three months.
Despite being a Republican who has served four decades in Congress, McConnell has been a top target of MAGA since the aftermath of Trump’s 2020 election defeat.
Back then, McConnell immediately recognized Joe Biden’s victory and went on to say that Trump had “provoked” his mob of supporters at the Capitol on Jan. 6 and “fed” them lies.
