An MS NOW host raised his eyebrows at the latest updates on Mitch McConnell.
Joe Scarborough appeared baffled by Republican lawmakers’ statements that they spent 20 minutes on the phone with the 84-year-old Kentucky senator, who was hospitalized after he was found unconscious in his home on June 14.
McConnell’s team has provided scant information on his health over the past three weeks, largely reverting to a statement on July 2 that read, “Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital. The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
As concerns and speculation mounted, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Whip John Barrasso, and former McConnell aide-turned-CNN panelist Scott Jennings all claimed that they had spoken with the ailing senator this week.
But Scarborough, a former politician, didn’t seem convinced, explaining on Wednesday’s Morning Joe that lawmakers’ days are typically divided into 15-minute blocks.
“They give you this card and your entire day—at least mine and most members that I know—were split in 15-minute increments, right? 8:15, 8:30, 8:00,” he said. “Mitch McConnell’s yesterday was split in 20-minute increments because it seems every Republican on Capitol Hill or any right-wing person on television seemed to have talked to Mitch McConnell for 20 minutes.”
“If John Thune and John Barrasso say they talked to him for 20 minutes or whatever, I believe they did. But I’m telling you, if I’m struggling in a hospital, I’m not talking to people for 20 minutes. I go, ‘Yeah, I’m fine.’ And move on,” he added.
A spokesperson for Thune earlier told the Daily Beast that he and McConnell spoke by phone on Monday in a lengthy, substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.
Barrasso’s office similarly said he spoke to McConnell on Tuesday.
“Senator Barrasso and Senator McConnell had a lengthy conversation early this afternoon. Their phone call lasted roughly 20 minutes,” communications director Kate Noyes said. “Senator McConnell was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
Jennings also wrote in an X post that he was on the phone with McConnell.
“I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky,“ he said. ”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.”
None of the statements explained why McConnell is still in the hospital or when he might be discharged.
He may have suffered a heart attack, according to an emergency personnel call first obtained by independent journalist Desirée Townsend. The June 14 call detailed an emergency dispatch to McConnell’s Washington, D.C., residence, where first responders were told of “CPR in progress” due to “cardiac arrest.”
McConnell’s office has kept a tight lid on his health, frequently reusing its July 2 statement that he is “working closely” with staff on Senate business while Congress is out of session. 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.
