Mitch McConnell’s health crisis continues to be shrouded in mystery nearly a month since he was first hospitalized—and could spell trouble for President Donald Trump down the road.
On The Daily Beast Podcast, host Joanna Coles sat down with Daily Beast executive editor Hugh Dougherty to break down the 84-year-old Kentucky senator’s continuing health battle, which began with his sudden hospitalization on June 14 after he was found unconscious in his Washington, D.C., home.
McConnell may have suffered a heart attack, according to an emergency personnel call first obtained by independent journalist Desirée Townsend. The June 14 call detailed an emergency dispatch to McConnell’s residence, where first responders were told of “CPR in progress” due to “cardiac arrest.”
McConnell’s office has kept a tight lid on his health, frequently reusing its July 2 statement that reads, “Senator McConnell 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.” His staff is led by his longtime, camera-shy aide Terry Carmack, who is on track to earn more than $226,000 this year.
Amid mounting concerns about the Republican stalwart’s health, Senate Majority Leader John Thune, Whip John Barrasso, and former McConnell aide-turned-CNN panelist Scott Jennings all released statements claiming that they had spoken with the ailing senator this week.
But Trump personally blew up the narrative that McConnell is on the mend.
Asked on Wednesday about McConnell’s health, Trump told reporters he had no clue what condition the senator was in.
“No, I have no—I have no idea,” he said. “I have no idea how he’s doing.”
Dougherty said the president’s response only underscored the continued animosity between him and McConnell, who has been blasted as a RINO—Republican in Name Only—by the MAGA faithful.
“They hate each other, and it was very clear when he was asked on Air Force One about it, that he did not want to dwell on this topic,” he told Coles.
Trump also knows what’s at stake in the Senate, Dougherty added.
“I think Donald Trump is aware that a dangerous distraction from the Senate is really bad, and Donald Trump’s big existential fear of a Democratic Senate is [that] they impeach him,” he said. “That’s what is motivating him.”
The White House did not immediately respond to the Daily Beast’s request for comment.
Trump has long been pushing Republican lawmakers to blow up the filibuster and pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of U.S. citizenship to vote in federal elections. But he has been unsuccessful, resorting instead to vengeful tactics such as refusing to sign a bipartisan housing bill “in PROTEST” against Republicans’ failure to pass the SAVE America Act.
“He is desperate for this to happen. Mitch is absolutely an obstacle to this,” Dougherty noted. “Whatever state Mitch is in, Mitch is an obstacle to this. But equally, the distraction, the difficulty, the crisis that is created by the departure, in whatever way, of Mitch McConnell from the Senate, he doesn’t need. So I think we can see why he’s been incredibly quiet about this.”
“It’s really difficult for him to work out. He’s in a box here. He can’t afford to lose the Senate,” Dougherty added. “Mitch McConnell could be replaced by something worse. He doesn’t want this.”
On Friday, CNN released a video taken by McConnell’s neighbor showing him being carried out of his home on a stretcher and loaded into an ambulance.
“He’s in a stretcher, and he’s in some sort orange foam-looking blanket type thing,” the neighbor said, adding they managed to see McConnell’s feet, but they were “not moving.”
“One of my neighbors is like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Mitch, I saw his face,’” they added.
But McConnell’s team still hasn’t shown any definitive proof that he’s in recovery.
“Mitch McConnell, you know, to some extent is such a traditionalist,” Coles said. “You would think that he would understand his responsibility was to reassure people that the seat itself was still, in effect, active.”
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