Chelsea Handler Goes There With Brutal Mitch McConnell Take
McConnell’s return to work has only raised more concerns about his health.
Chelsea Handler unleashed on Mitch McConnell’s “return” to public life during her appearance on The View, declaring the 84-year-old Kentucky senator is “possibly not even alive,” despite his latest appearances.
The comedian was asked for her take by The View co-host Sunny Hostin, after McConnell returned to Capitol Hill earlier this month. He had been absent from the public eye for 92 days after being hospitalized in June before he returned to the Senate floor in a wheelchair, where he made minimal remarks and waved at reporters while flanked by his chief of staff.
“Was that a return? That’s a return to Saturn, is what that was,” Handler quipped.
Handler said McConnell was "possibly not even alive."
Daniel Heuer/REUTERS
“I mean, honestly, I can’t believe—this is obviously like Weekend at Bernie’s,” she said, referencing the 1989 film in which two men pretend their dead boss is still alive by propping him up and dragging him around so that they can enjoy his beach house for the weekend. “We’re dealing with a person who’s unconscious or possibly not even alive, you know. I mean, they’re propping him, and when his hand went up, I was like, ‘Who is holding his hand up?”
McConnell flashed a thumbs up sign as he was loaded into the minivan.
Daniel Heuer/Reuters
The day after the Senator’s return to the Hill, he was filmed leaving his home in a minivan, greeting reporters with a thumbs up and a peace sign.
“When he got into the van, I mean, honestly, it’s just ridiculous,” Handler went on.
McConnell sits with Senator John Hoeven at a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting on whether to vote the farm bill out of committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., September 16, 2026.
Jonathan Ernst/REUTERS
McConnell’s continual appearances have done little to ease speculation about his fitness to remain in office. He’s ignored questions about his health with his new frequent gesture—a very slow, two-finger peace sign. During his second appearance on the Hill last week, he needed prompting from aides and his name called twice before he could verbally vote “aye” to advance the Republicans’ bill.
Handler concluded, “When they look back at this time in history, how are we going to explain ourselves?”
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