Where is Mitch McConnell?
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
The Clare Byrne Show on Newstalk. With Aviva Insurance.
What happened when Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on June 14?
In the United States, the Republican Senator Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital for treatment on June the 14th. So that's almost a month ago. But since then, there has been no update on his condition. So where is Mitch McConnell? Joining me to discuss this further is Hilary McGann, who's a journalist and has the Instagram page News by Hill. Hilary, thanks so much for being with us. So this is a real mystery, isn't it? And it's a big story in the United States.
Oh, absolutely. And the short answer is he's still in hospital. But first off, I think it is helpful to talk about who Mitch McConnell is because it gets to the heart of why this is so significant. So he's an 84 year old senator from Kentucky. That's a state you don't really hear about all too often in U.S. news.
Why has there been almost a month with no detailed update on McConnell's condition?
But to be clear, McConnell is one of the most powerful lawmakers in the U.S. He was the longest serving leader of the Senate Republicans in U.S. history. And there are huge concerns, as you say, about his health. his health right now and a lot of unanswered questions because he's in the hospital for about three weeks, close to a month. And there's been very little information provided to the public in that time. As you say, he was admitted to hospital on June 14th. Now in the US media outlets, there's been a lot of reporting of this 911 call that was made from his property on that day. It refers to someone doesn't name Mitch McConnell. It refers to someone who was unconscious and suffering from cardiac arrest.
And, uh, on July 2nd was the next time that we got an update from McConnell's team. And in that it was really actually what they didn't say. And so they said basically that the Senator was quote receiving excellent care and continues to improve. And a lot of people reacted to that statement saying, well, what does that actually mean? And so you've definitely had a lot of questions. And I think the unanswered questions, Clare, they allow conspiracies to float, right? And so what you've seen is earlier this week, there's a woman called Laura Loomer here in the US. For anyone who doesn't know who she is, she's a far right, controversial political commentator. She alleged on X that McConnell was in a vegetative state.
And I think off the back of that, That's what prompted a lot of Republican senators to come out this week and say that they have had phone calls with McConnell for up to 20 minutes talking about all things foreign policy.
Who is Mitch McConnell and why does his health matter politically?
You know, those statements have been met with a fair bit of skepticism. But I think, to be honest with you, I'm skeptical of I think it's healthy to be skeptical of everything in U.S. politics at the moment. Because, yeah, Laura Loomer is a Trump ally. And let's not forget that McConnell has been a lot more vocal in his criticisms of Trump in recent years.
And she's said all sorts of things that have been disproven over the years. Now, the other part of this story that adds intrigue to it is that Mitch McConnell's wife, who's the former Transportation Secretary, went to China three days after he was hospitalised, didn't she?
Yes, well, I think it's unclear whether or not she went to China or she was in China. So she had a meeting in China on June 17th and her office have come out to say that What was happening with his health at the time didn't warrant her coming back early from that visit. But she has since returned to the US. So again, it just added a lot of intrigue.
Also, she may have been in China when he was hospitalized.
Again, like they are being so unclear in their statements, but my reading of the reports suggest that she was in China, stayed for a meeting on June 17th, and then subsequently went back to the US. But it's hard to reconcile that with this report of a 911 call stating cardiac arrest and a man unconscious. So again, it gets to the heart of all these unanswered questions. It's bizarre.
So what is the political significance of his health or otherwise? Like, Why might there be some attempt to conceal his actual condition here, Hilary?
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:01–0:09
2
What happened when Mitch McConnell was admitted to hospital on June 14?
0:09–0:52
3
Why has there been almost a month with no detailed update on McConnell's condition?
0:52–2:27
4
Who is Mitch McConnell and why does his health matter politically?
2:27–5:12
5
What does the 911 call report say about an unconscious person and possible cardiac arrest?
5:12–8:07
6
How did social media claims and Laura Loomer's posts fuel speculation about McConnell?
8:07–10:22