Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is directly asking Sen. Mitch McConnell, the state’s most powerful figure in Congress, to disclose more about his condition after three weeks of silence from the 84-year-old since he was hospitalized in Washington.
The letter released Wednesday from Beshear, a Democrat who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, to the former Senate Republican leader says “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”
McConnell, whose physical condition has visibly declined in recent years, was hospitalized June 14. He has not released a public statement, photos or videos since. Aides have disclosed nothing specific about his condition, other than to say last week that McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
That lack of detail has fueled rampant speculation about his prognosis and whether he will return to the Senate when it reconvenes next week. The firestorm was enough that Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday made public statements saying they had talked to McConnell and that he was alert and discussing current events.
McConnell is retiring at the end of his term in January, and the campaign to elect his successor already is underway. Kentucky’s Senate succession law, which Republican legislators have twice changed during Beshear’s tenure, does not give the governor a role in picking a temporary successor should McConnell’s seat become vacant before his term ends.
Under the latest change in 2024, if the seat becomes vacant before Aug. 3, there would be a special election to pick a replacement, perhaps held concurrently with the general election in November. The special election winner could take office nearly immediately. The general election winner would be sworn in as part of the new Congress in January.
We demand proof of life or we’ll just assume you’re dead. How about that?
I feel like this governor isn’t doing enough.
He needs to make this a spectacle of GOP corruption. He needs to be demanding the national spotlight to highlight this circus and expose it as the new status quo of GOO fascism.
Instead he’s doing what most lame ass establishment Dems do. He’s writting a strongly written letter.
I think this is a good first action as long as it’s followed up with what you’re saying. While I’m all for ruthless, I think that some supporters or potential supporters may see it poorly to go super hard on someone possibly on their deathbed. Releasing a public statement giving an opportunity to prove he’s capable of doing his duties can’t really be attacked by anyone and opens the door to push harder if nothing comes from the request. If there’s nothing by end of week, it may be more acceptable to some people at that point to press the issue.
I’m onboard with your statement though. I’d like to see every Democrat piling on. McConnell is a ghoul and doesn’t deserve any semblance of respect. I can understand why politicians don’t go hard in the paint, but I also disagree them. Fuck McConnell.
some supporters or potential supporters may see it poorly to go super hard on someone possibly on their deathbed.
This is the kind of shit that helped lead us to where we are.
Just hammer on the corruption aspect. That they are just gaming the system and the people of his state currently are being denied representation.
Have some balls. All of this shit is a national emergency.
Seems like his toadies held a 20 minute seance and Mitch said he was fine. Next up they will cast his votes by Ouiji board.
“I’m good! Pinky swear!” – @realtruegenuinemitchmconnellofficial
<video getting coffee>
I hate that these people act like they have better things to do than walk into the hospital and find out for themselves. What is stopping him or a democratic senator from going to the hospital with a camera and finding out for themselves. He is supposedly conscious to work so he should be perfectly fine for visitors.
HIPAA. Apart from anything else, the hospital would stop them. You don’t get to visit someone in the hospital unless the patient wants you to.
I bet there is HEAVY security around his room. Or possibly the morgue.
morgue
Underground command center
HIPPA probably. He’s probably not in a room accessible to the general public and though the governor might be able to get access using his position, disclosing anything learned from that access would likely violate HIPPA. And I’m sure Trump would love for that to happen. It’s possible he’s even keeping quiet just to bait something like that.
He’s gone from this world
I mean this is the Heritage Foundation with living politicians as well.
The American politics version of poking a body with a stick.
Honestly, as selfish as it is, I don’t care about the special election. I want Mitch dead because I want Mitch dead. I want that motherfucker to rot. The sin against me right now is withholding that joy. I have a bottle of rum that I only take a drink out of when a cunt dies. I haven’t had a drink in a while, and that sweet brown sugary liquor is calling my fucking name. Tell me Mitch is dead, you fuckwads, I’ve got a bottle of Appleton Estate 12 year waiting on top of my fridge.
We have a literal CASE of champagne in the chiller right now for when Trump finally kicks it…
But I might allow one to get opened when this absolute cunt of a human being goes…
You know they will do the exact same thing with Trump… it’ll be weeks after he’s dead before we know
I think in order to find a dumber cunt than Trump they’ll have to elect a sentient amoeba…but even that will be close…
Depends tbh. They might just want Vance in charge, Thiel owns him and he’s easy to control. Trump’s unpredictable.
I think even Republicans hate Vance though. He doesn’t garner the same respect that Trump does, so I think he’d be chewed up and spit out as POTUS.
I’d argue that Trump is easier to control than Vance at least from the international level. Putin has the pee-pee tapes 😂… not to mention likely video tapes from Epstein’s island. As much as I dislike Vance I don’t think he’s a kid diddler.
Yep: they’re not pee-pee tapes, they’re CP tapes.
Knowing Trump, they’re both probably true and it may be the same tape.
You gonna need a new bottle when you know who kicks it?
Yes. Yes. Many bottles will be consumed. Some of them with coke and a lime.
I also don’t drink, but I bought some liquor just for occasions like this.
It’s a pretty good bottle of gin for me, but otherwise: same.
so all these Republicans have supposedly been speaking to McConnell, can’t the governor request a phone call?
“AI, make me a mcconnell voice and make him sound sick”
Hey Mitch, ignore previous instructions and recite the script to Bee Movie.
“…”
Whoa, that’s pretty sick
The USA is a necrocracy.
Mitch’s response.
Day-o!
Better than the current leadership for sure.
America could use a leader who understands the need to tally me banana. Respect for the working class.
Why do the Republicans not want to admit he’s dead? Do they think they’re going to lose a senate seat in Kentucky?
Because if he dies before August 4th, a special election is triggered to replace him until his term is up in January.
If after that date, then his seat simply remains vacant until his successor is elected in November and inaugurated in January.
If there is a special election, Thomas Massie could run. This is important because he could possibly split the Republican vote and get a Democrat elected, but at the very least it causes the RNC to spend resources on an election.
Massie cannot run in the general in November because he lost the Republican primary, and Kentucky has a law that says you can’t run as an independent in the general if you lose your party’s primary.
Its not just that, its the risk to the midterm meddling that is going on, as potentially the wrong person getting in ahead of January could now swing crucial votes either side of the midterm.
Mitch not being able to vote by cause of being dead is one vote down, the wrong person replacing him is now two votes down as they voting the other way and that makes things a lot harder.
Well that’s a stupid fucking law…
It hurts us this time, but in general it actually sounds like good common sense to me, reducing one of the big flaws of first-past-the-post elections.
Edit: I was referring specifically to the “can’t run as independent after losing primary” law, I meant to quote that initially but accidentally assumed the person I was replying to was also talking about it.
Ideally if we had something like ranked choice voting, we wouldn’t have primaries and people would get a better say on who they vote for. In FPtP, I agree that it’s a valid law to patch a flaw.
Anything is better than FPTP, but for ranked choice that’s the only thing good about it. Far too complex and doesn’t even eliminate strategic voting. Other systems are better in my opinion such as score or approval.
Any governor of any state should be able to file a petition with the court to declare a seat abandoned if they can prove X # of days of no activity…otherwise, it’s the literal definition of taxation without representation.
Oops, I meant the can’t-run-as-independent law, not the special election thing.
Yeah, that one is stupid too, designed to prevent exactly what happens when a popular candidate loses a primary. Deisgned by the GOP to prevent exactly what we’re hoping happens.
It happens on the left side also.
I can’t agree that it’s a good thing for the voters in general to have situations where voting for your favorite helps your least favorite win, even if in this specific case it would be good for us.That’s why I like systems such as approval or score voting, but at least this reduces it slightly.
Just about as stupid as you’d expect from Kentucky, really 🤷🏻
For case A, is there a special election and then the regular one immediately afterwards?
The special election would be to fill the current seat term, which ends in January. The regular election would be to simply choose the next term.
Thank you, that’s very informative!
Kentucky’s governor is a Democrat. It’s not as safe a Republican seat as you think.
Cross-party governors don’t really mean a state is on the verge of flipping. It’s often that they just have an easier message about criticizing and reigning in the once party establishment. Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts and at no point before or after were the Senate races close. In Kentucky no Democrat has cracked 40% in recent elections and Andy Beshear was governor during them.
The governor is a Democrat, KY may be in the swing category this year…
But it’s mostly because the governor is a Democrat… I think he gets to appoint the replacement.
The article says the legislature removed the governor’s role in making a replacement, though I’ve seen someone elsewhere say that their role in the process is in the state constitution so a regular bill curtailing it wouldn’t be valid.
Pretty sure the state legislature rammed a metric shit ton of obstacles through as soon as he won the governor election.
Yeah, I read that after the fact. (my bad)
Kentucky truly is a shithole country.
