Politics is a dirty business. Sometimes, the gossip gets ahead of the grim reaper. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear dropped a bombshell this week, admitting he received two separate phone calls from agencies claiming Senator Mitch McConnell had kicked the bucket. He was wrong. Or rather, they were.
Beshear, a Democrat, spilled the beans during a YouTube interview with Katie Couric. He kept the details close to his chest. No agency names. No exact dates. Just a vague admission that two non-state entities rang him up to say the 84-year-old Republican leader had passed away.
The rumor mill was spinning fast. McConnell had been MIA for nearly a month following a June 14 fall. His office stayed dead silent. Naturally, people panicked. Emergency dispatch audio from the day of the accident painted a grim picture, suggesting the senator was unconscious and possibly suffering a heart attack.
Finally, on July 12, McConnell’s team threw the public a bone. They released a photo. It showed the aging politician in a hospital bed, flanked by his wife, Elaine Chao. McConnell insisted he hadn’t suffered a stroke, a heart attack, or any broken bones. His doctor later blamed a bout of pneumonia, which apparently cleared up with antibiotics.
Before that proof-of-life photo dropped, Beshear was losing his patience. He publicly badgered McConnell for transparency, drawing parallels to how he previously demanded clarity on Joe Biden’s health. Beshear wanted the “crazy speculation” to end. He got his wish, sort of. McConnell says he is heading back to the Senate. When? Nobody knows.
