It’s been more than three weeks since former GOP Senate leader Mitch McConnell was reportedly ushered off to a hospital in Washington, D.C., after suffering what sounded like a major medical emergency.
Since then, he’s not been seen in public, and despite assurances from some Republican leaders that the Kentucky Republican is recovering well, some rank-and-file GOP lawmakers aren’t so sure.
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Rep. Marlin Stutzman, R-Ind., told NewsNation on Thursday he doesn’t know whether McConnell is still alive.
He’s also criticizing the lack of updates about the Kentucky senator’s condition after nearly a month in the hospital.
“I have not heard from him, and I think it’s a question that Republicans should be asking because he does represent the state of Kentucky,” Stutzman told the network’s “Morning in America.”
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“His constituents deserve answers where he is at,” he continued.
“As a Republican, I think we need to hold our own party accountable, so the fact that we haven’t heard anything really from Sen. McConnell is very discouraging and concerning,” he said.
He went on to question McConnell’s condition, saying he has received no confirmation the senator is alive.
“Do you know that he’s alive? I don’t,” Stutzman said. “The things that I’ve heard and seen from some friends are that he’s obviously not doing well, but I don’t know if he’s alive or has passed away.”
Newly released video shows McConnell being loaded into an ambulance after suffering an apparent medical emergency at his Capitol Hill home last month.
The footage, published Friday by CNN and recorded by a neighbor, shows D.C. Fire and EMS personnel transporting the 84-year-old Kentucky senator on a stretcher on the morning of June 14.
In the video, McConnell’s face is not visible, and an orange blanket covers his lower legs, leaving his feet exposed.
According to CNN, the neighbor said another eyewitness reported that McConnell was not wearing an oxygen mask when paramedics transported him to a local hospital.
“One of my neighbors is like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Mitch, I saw his face,’” the anonymous resident told CNN.
Previously released emergency dispatch audio indicated that McConnell had been found unconscious at his home and that first responders performed CPR before transporting him to the hospital.
The neighbor who recorded the video told CNN that the paramedics appeared calm during the response and did not display any visible signs of urgency or panic while caring for the senator.
“In a situation where perhaps time is of the essence, there seems to be a little bit more urgency, but there was no urgency here,” they said.
Speculation about the 84-year-old senator’s condition has intensified since his hospitalization, fueled in part by online rumors about the severity of his medical emergency.
While no evidence has been publicly presented to substantiate those claims, there is also no publicly available evidence to fundamentally dismiss them, such as video of the aged senator alive and well.
🚨 UPDATE: New footage confirms Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) was loaded into an ambulance on a stretcher when he was initially transported to the hospital — CNN
EMS audio recordings found an unknown person was “unconscious” due to “cardiac arrest,” with “CPR in progress” pic.twitter.com/Q45OR67lKF
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) July 10, 2026
Senate Republican leaders and McConnell’s office have maintained that he is recovering and remains engaged with Senate business, saying he has continued to communicate with colleagues about legislative matters while hospitalized.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) issued a statement earlier this week saying that he and McConnell spoke by phone on Monday and shared “a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.”
Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) released a similar statement, claiming the two had a phone call that lasted “roughly 20 minutes” and that McConnell was “fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, a former McConnell adviser, said his onetime boss had called him and “sounded strong.”
But Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, sent a letter to McConnell’s office earlier this week seeking an update on his condition.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
