Questions swirl over top US Republican McConnell’s hospital stay

Concerns are growing about the health of US Senator Mitch McConnell, a top Republican lawmaker who has been in hospital for over three weeks. McConnell, 84, was admitted for treatment on 14 June, according to his staff. His aides have not given any details about the reason for his hospital stay, or what kind of treatment he is receiving.

His team said on 2 July he was “receiving excellent care” and “continues to improve”.

On Tuesday, several Republicans said they had spoken by phone to McConnell, the longest-serving Senate party leader in US history. Their comments came after a Trump ally – influencer Laura Loomer – claimed on X the Kentucky senator was in a “vegetative state”.

Several US media outlets have reported that 911 emergency calls were made from McConnell’s home seeking help for an “unconscious” person who was suffering from “cardiac arrest”.

The calls also indicated that CPR was being performed on the patient. McConnell, who has served in the Senate for more than 40 years, was not explicitly named in the recording.

On Tuesday, Loomer, a far-right activist, posted that McConnell “is brain dead and hooked up to machines”, and alleged a “cover-up”.

She also criticised his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, for visiting China during McConnell’s hospital stay.

The Chinese government has confirmed Chao met Chinese Vice-President Han Zheng in Beijing on 17 June, three days after McConnell was admitted to the hospital.

A spokesperson for Chao told the BBC on Tuesday evening that McConnell’s health “did not warrant an immediate return”, though she has since returned to the US.

“The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s philanthropic endeavors,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “During the trip, she met with a number of people, including the US ambassador.”

In an apparent effort to push back against Loomer’s claims, several Republican colleagues released statements on Tuesday saying they had spoken by phone with the former Senate leader.

A spokesman for Senate Leader John Thune said the two had held “a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics including national security”.

A spokeswoman for Senator John Barrasso said the two had spoken for 20 minutes, and that McConnell “was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate”.

McConnell’s office has not released any update on his condition since 2 July, when it said in a statement that the senator “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.”

McConnell has faced several health scares in recent years.

He shocked colleagues and congressional reporters when he abruptly froze while speaking during a press conference in 2023, and that year he suffered a concussion after falling at a hotel in Washington, which kept him away from the Senate for several weeks.

In 2024, he was injured after tripping outside a Senate lunch event, and earlier this year he was admitted to hospital for the flu. McConnell survived polio as a child, which he said in a 2020 interview made it hard for him to climb stairs.

In his years at the top of the Senate, McConnell developed a reputation as a wily tactician and perpetual thorn in the side of Democrats through the use of arcane procedures and blunt political force.

In one of his most consequential moves in 2016, he held up President Barack Obama’s US Supreme Court nomination, allowing Donald Trump to instead appoint a conservative justice when he took office the next year.

Despite supporting much of Trump’s agenda during his first administration, McConnell has become a more vocal critic of the president in his second term.

McConnell had previously announced that he would not seek re-election once his term expires in January 2027, and Republican Andy Barr will go up against Democrat Charles Booker in the November midterm election to take over his seat.

In the event of an early vacancy, Kentucky law requires that a special election be held to choose a temporary replacement.

By BBC News