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GOP Hypocrisy

Mitch McConnell Has Suspiciously Gone Silent on His Health After His Fall and People Suspect Something SERIOUS Is Going On

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It’s been eight days since Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell was rushed to the hospital after falling during a dinner event and we’ve heard nary a word from him or his team. That’s raising questions about his health and the Republican leadership in Congress, Newsweek reports.

The Kentucky Republican has received a bevy of well wishes on both sides of the political aisle, but some people are comparing the public treatment of his illness to that of fellow senator John Fetterman (D-Pa.), who is being treated for depression at a medical center.

McConnell has been serving in the U.S. Senate since 1984, and this year became the longest-serving party leader in U.S. history. Newsweek describes him as “among the more conservative Republicans,” but some also view him as a pragmatist who has earned a reputation as a skilled political strategist.

After finding out about McConnell’s fall, President Joe Biden wished him a “speedy recovery” and said he and the first lady “look forward to seeing him back on the Senate floor.”

David Popp, McConnell’s communications director announced on March 9 that his boss had been admitted to the hospital to be treated for a concussion. In a March 13 announcement, Popp said the senator’s recovery was “proceeding well” and he had been released from the hospital that day.

McConnell was also being treated for a minor rib fracture, Popp added.

“At the advice of his physician, the next step will be a period of physical therapy at an inpatient rehabilitation facility before he returns home,” he said.

Since then, we’ve pretty much heard nothing. Even his office hasn’t made any public statements. Senator John Thune (R-S.D.), who serves as the Senate’s minority whip, making him second in command to McConnell told reporters on March 15 that he is keeping in touch with McConnell through text messages but hasn’t spoken directly with him.

“I have not spoken with him,” Thune said, per USAToday. “I have communicated with him, but I look forward to making that happen.”

But the lack of information on McConnell’s current health status is of concern for some people.

“Pretty weird how few updates there’ve been about Mitch McConnell’s health!” Marisa Kabas, a columnist for MSNBC posted on Friday. “He’s the senate minority leader! Where are the details?

The next day she added:

“It just feels like there’s a cone of silence around McConnell’s condition and people who cover the hill are giving his staff and Senate Republicans way too much deference. Weeks in the hospital/rehab is not routine. It means something quite serious happened.”

She noted other pertinent things, including Thune’s comments:

Newsweek asked a McConnell spokesperson for comment but all that happened is the March 13 statement was reissued.

Not very reassuring, is that? But the type of therapy he’s reportedly receiving can last up to a couple of weeks and it’s likely that his physicians and therapists will indicate when he has left rehab.

One unnamed GOP senator notes this has left the Republican caucus in “a state of limbo,” adding:

“Nobody really knows what the situation is and nobody knows how long he’ll be gone. A couple of folks have said: ‘Who’s in charge right now?”

Now compare McConnell’s situation to the way Fetterman has been treated both when he suffered a stroke during the 2022 midterm primary and recently entered the hospital to be treated for depression at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

Donald Trump Jr. called Fetterman a “vegetable.” Pennsylvania Republicans have demanded a video “to show us he is alive.”

“Glad Senator John Fetterman is doing so well,” Kaivan Shroff, a Democratic commentator, wrote Saturday. “But worth noting the same people who demanded minute-by-minute updates on his health are awfully quiet about Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s health status post-concussion.”

“Where is the GOP-Fetterman level outrage over Mitch McConnell?” another user asked on Friday.

But double standards are nothing new for Republicans. It’s their modus operandi. They’ve done their usual job of fighting the Biden administration on such crucial things as infrastructure, the oil drawdown, his attempts at student loan forgiveness, and other matters. Republicans either can’t see or refuse to see their own hypocrisy in how they have treated Fetterman in comparison to McConnell.

It’s just more of the same, all the time.

Megan Hamilton
meet the author

Megan has lived in California, Nevada, Arizona, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Florida and she currently lives in Central America. Living in these places has informed her writing on politics, science, and history. She is currently owned by 15 cats and 3 dogs and regularly owns Trump supporters when she has the opportunity. She can be found on Twitter at https://twitter.com/GaiaLibra and Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/politicalsaurus

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