Jon Stewart can’t quite believe that Senator Mitch McConnell’s health is as good as he claims.
The Kentucky congressman‘s office addressed weeks of speculation over his health on Sunday by releasing an image of him from his hospital bed, holding a newspaper with the day’s date on it.
Alongside the Senator’s “proof-of-life” image, McConnell’s office released a statement sharing that he was in the hospital due to a fall, and that he’d also dealt with a “mild case of pneumonia.”
“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older,” the statement read. “Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it."
Stewart responded to the image in his Monday monologue, joking, “Ladies and gentlemen, I give you totally believable evidence that Mitch McConnell is not only alive, but the happiest boy in the hospital.”
Pointing to the picture, Stewart added, “That’s the smile of a Make-A-Wish kid whose wish was that everyone else in the hospital lost their health insurance due to his f--king policies.”
“And after that, of course, Mitch and his wife released even more photos,” Stewart said.
He showed a few photoshopped pictures of McConnell riding Splash Mountain, sitting on top of the Empire State Building, and attending the World Cup while the Grim Reaper lurks behind him.
Since McConnell’s office released the photo and statement on Sunday, MAGA influencers and pundits have expressed similar skepticism over the Senator’s health.
Megyn Kelly criticized the picture in her Monday episode of The Megyn Kelly Show, saying, “It is a little off. ... This has a lot of tongues wagging about whether this is real, whether we can trust this photo.”
The former Senate majority leader had apparently been found unconscious in his home on June 14 and given CPR, according to an emergency personnel call obtained on June 30.
Kelly argued that McConnell’s statement on Sunday, where he denied having had a heart attack, seemed suspicious.
“So, why was he getting CPR?” Kelly asked. “It’s just, there’s a lot.”
Stewart also wondered aloud, “How the f--k did Lindsey Graham die before Mitch McConnell? How the f--k is that possible? It’s hard to believe.”
Between McConnell’s health mystery and the sudden death of Graham, 71, on Sunday, Stewart came to one conclusion:
“You cannot have the country ruled by people this old and frail,” he said.
Stewart shared a news montage of the many injuries and debilitating health concerns elderly congressmen have suffered over the past few years. He marveled at the news that Graham is the sixth congressman to have died in the 119th Congress.
“As our government has gotten older, the economy has gotten worse. Inequality more severe. Our safety net shredded,” Stewart said. “We don’t have a system that rewards experience and competence and performance; we have a system that rewards incumbency.”
Stewart described Congress’ elderly members as being “utterly incapable of addressing a world moving much faster than the speed of Matlock.”
In McConnell’s statement insisting on his good health, he told his constituents, “But I still have unfinished business to complete on your behalf, and I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do.”
Stewart responded bluntly to McConnell’s promise, “Don’t! Don’t finish it. We’re fine.”
He joked further, “And by the way, ‘I am going nowhere because I have unfinished business’? Literally is what a ghost would say.”
