New York Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has called on Kentucky Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell to provide an update on his health or resign from office.
The 84 year-old senator was hospitalized on June 14 after being found unconscious at his home in Washington, D.C., but has only been heard from once in the five weeks since, with his aides reluctant to answer questions about his wellbeing.
“If he can’t give us an update, he should resign, absolutely,” said Ocasio-Cortez, who this week took the surprise lead in an early 2028 presidential primary poll.
The congresswoman told a MeidasTouch reporter on Capitol Hill she was dismissive of the statement to constituents McConnell put out on July 12, in which he said he was recovering in a rehabilitation facility and planning his return to Congress.
“I think it’s been very clear to people across Kentucky that his ‘update’ was not sufficient,” she said Thursday.
Ocasio-Cortez stressed that it is “tremendously important” for the seven-term senator to come clean if he can no longer continue to do his job because congressional votes are currently being decided along such narrow margins that his presence is essential.
In the silence that followed the veteran’s hospitalization, rumors, conspiracy theories and gallows humor began to fill the void.
Senate Majority Leader John Thune, his deputy, Wyoming Sen. John Barroso, and conservative CNN pundit Scott Jennings were among those who reacted by insisting they had had “lengthy and substantive” conversations with the patient by phone, claims that were met with skepticism.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear then wrote to McConnell on July 8 asking for an update on behalf of the citizens of their state. He never received a reply but the senator did issue his update four days later, alongside a photo of himself sitting up in bed accompanied by his wife, Elaine Chao, a former labor secretary to President Donald Trump.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion,” McConnell wrote. “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke.
“I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.
“As much as it frustrates me, this process takes time. And on the advice of my doctors, I won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet. But rest assured that, in the meantime, I’m not taking a break from the Senate business that matters to you.”
AOC was not satisfied with his explanation at the time, telling reporters in another on-the-spot interview that she doubted his prolonged absence was legal and stressed how abnormal she considered the situation.
Speaking also to CBS News Thursday, the congresswoman said: “If Senator McConnell is not capable of as basic a task as answering a letter to Governor Beshear, I think that that conveys a very disturbing inability to fulfill his duties.”
“I understand that people have a right to medical privacy to deal with their issues, but we do not have the right to disappear from our jobs without explanation.
“I don’t think any American has ever experienced the ability to just leave your job for over a month with no explanation to your employer.”
The Independent has requested comment from McConnell’s office.
