Mitch McConnell has been in and out of the hospital lately. Folks are wondering if something serious was about to occur with the Senator. McConnell has been a familiar face on the national political stage. But, the Kentucky politician was openly battling some sort of ailment over the last month.
The 83-year-old senator was released from the hospital this week after experiencing “flu-like symptoms” according to NBC News. McConnell was in the facility for a week-long stay, which couple with his advanced age, prompted speculation from a number of places around social media.
McConnell spokesman David Popp issued a statement for the legislator. “Senator McConnell was discharged from the hospital yesterday and is grateful for the outstanding care he received. He is feeling better and will be working from home this week on the advice of his doctors,” they wrote. All that sounds great in a statement, but it wasn’t about to quell the bubbling speculation surrounding the Senator after the last few years.
Back in 2023, McConnell had a concussion after a fall. Before that, the lawmaker notched a fractured shoulder at home during some sort of accident. Let’s not forget this is an 83-year-old man. (Albeit, an elderly man with better healthcare than like 95% of United States residents…) It’s enough to wonder just how long he could keep up this rigorous schedule in the face of so many personal injuries.
Mitch McConnell has another health scare
Last year, McConnell drew a lot of media attention for announcing that he would not be seeking another term in the senate. The politician delivered that message on the chamber floor. McConnell told his colleagues, “Representing our commonwealth has been the honor of my lifetime. I will not seek this honor an eighth time. My current term in the Senate will be my last.”
“Thanks to Ronald Reagan’s determination, the work of strengthening American hard power was well underway when I arrived in the Senate,” McConnell chattered. “But since then, we’ve allowed that power to atrophy. And today, a dangerous world threatens to outpace the work of rebuilding it. So, lest any of our colleagues still doubt my intentions for the remainder of my term: I have some unfinished business to attend to.”
Any admission like that was going to send ripples through the political landscape. McConnell joins a growing list of representatives both Democratic and Republican heading for the hills as the general public in the US becomes fed-up with how things are going. How that will shake out is anyone’s guess, but McConnell channeled Magic Johnson and dipped out early.
McConnell’s legacy as a lawmaker
It’s hard to talk about this man’s political career and not talk about the legacy he leaves behind. McConnell was absolutely instrumental in installing President Donald Trump into the White House back in 2016 and basically returning him to that point in 2024. Though he did buck against the administration after his life was literally put in danger during the 2021 insurrection, that didn’t stop him from Helping construct a roadblock to an impeachment trial that could have altered the path to where we currently sit.
Before all of that, his reputation was one of an obstructionist then as well. McConnell was one of the key figures in helping limit President Barack Obama’s political agenda back during the first and second Obama terms. He would also go on to provide goalkeeper support during President Joe Biden’s term in office as well. While his statements lament the current state of both politics and culture in America, there is no doubt that Mitch McConnell was a key figure in pouring the gasoline that would end up setting everything ablaze. Now, it’s just a question of when he’ll bow out of public life.
(featured image: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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