Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has said he received calls from two unnamed non-state agencies suggesting Senator Mitch McConnell had died during a prolonged hospital stay, deepening scrutiny of the Republican's health and absence from public life. Beshear made the remarks in an interview with Katie Couric published on 15 July, while urging McConnell to address Kentucky voters directly.
The news came after weeks of limited public information about McConnell's condition, during which his office released a written statement and a photograph said to show him in a hospital bed beside his wife, Elaine Chao. McConnell said he had been hospitalised after a fall, had briefly lost consciousness and later developed mild pneumonia, while denying he had suffered a heart attack or stroke.
