McConnell’s office issues statement on senator’s health

United States Senator Mitch McConnell has released a photo and a statement following speculations and questions about his health.

The former Majority Leader from Kentucky was admitted to the hospital in June, but details to that hospitalization were unknown, with some news outlet theorizing the senator experienced a cardiac event. He has been out of the public eye since, though several other senators and former aides have said they have spoken with McConnell in that time.

Now, the senator’s office has released a photo of McConnell and his wife, Elaine Chao, where the senator is sitting up in a medical bed.

In his statement, the long-serving senator says, “When you elected me to a seventh term and made me our Commonwealth’s longest serving Senator, you did so trusting that I’d keep showing up to fight for you every day. And over the past several weeks, Elaine and I have appreciated both your well wishes and your honest questions about what was keeping me away from the Senate. You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it.”

He says he took a fall that knocked him ‘briefly unconscious’, but he was lucky enough to not suffer a concussion or any broken bones. While in the hospital, he reportedly came down with a case of mild pneumonia and remained for treatment. Officials say the remainder of his hospital stay focused on physical therapy and strategies to reduce his risk of future falls.