A senior Republican senator has alleged that the photo intended to address concerns over Mitch McConnell’s health is not recent. The image was meant to quash speculation after McConnell’s health became a topic of widespread discussion.
The 84-year-old senator had shared a photo depicting him in a hospital bed, alongside a Sunday newspaper, claiming that a recent fall had resulted in him being ‘briefly unconscious.’ This announcement came after his office remained silent for weeks regarding his hospital visit and subsequent absence from Senate duties.
In the photograph, McConnell is pictured sitting up in a hospital bed with his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, at his side. He was shown holding the sports section of Sunday’s Washington Post.
However, in a recent interview on Real America’s Voice, Wisconsin Senator Ron Johnson suggested that the image might not be current, citing unnamed sources.
“I just heard from some other source that was an older photo, so I really don’t know,” Johnson explained to host Eric Bolling during the broadcast.
‘I haven’t talked to Mitch, um, I sincerely wish his family well. I hope he can recover,’ Johnson added. ‘Listen—it’s sad to watch people age, no matter who that person is.’
The photo has sparked rampant speculation online with thousands of posts scrutinizing the image, including claims that the Sunday paper in McConnell’s hand is doctored.
The Washington Post published an analysis last night which found that the metadata on the photo – the digital footprint coded into the image – shows that it was indeed taken on Sunday.
McConnell sits up in a hospital bed beside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, holding the front of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section
Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told Real America’s Voice on Monday evening that ‘sources’ told him the photo of McConnell was old
The Washington Post, whose paper is in the senator’s hand, published an analysis last night which found that the metadata on the photo – the digital footprint coded into the image – shows that it was indeed taken on Sunday
The above photo posted online shows garbled text in the sports section of the paper, suggesting that it was doctored. However, others cautioned that AI has been used to zoom in on the photo, and in attempting to ‘upscale’ the image it simply generates random text
A column in the Sunday sport page of the Washington Post, left, and the paper seen in McConnell’s Trump hand, right, which users pointed out appears to be consistent
An independent digital forensics expert also said that there is no evidence that the image is fake.
Viral posts amplifying claims the McConnell photo was doctored showed a zoomed in picture of the paper in his hand which showed garbled text in the sports section.
But others cautioned that AI had been used to zoom in on the photo, and in trying to ‘upscale’ the image the technology simply generates random text.
Other zoomed in pictures of the paper show that its layout appears consistent with Sunday’s paper.
Johnson and McConnell have served together for more than 16 years and often clashed, with Johnson siding with Trump over the former Senate leader.
Johnson backed off the remarks hours later, posting on X that viewers should ‘beware of clickbait’ and watch the full interview, before wishing McConnell a full recovery.
McConnell was admitted to a hospital on the morning of June 14 following a medical emergency at his Washington, DC home.
Paramedics responded to a report of an unconscious person believed to have suffered a ‘cardiac arrest,’ with a medic reporting ‘CPR in progress’ at the address.
McConnell claimed that he has been absence from the Senate for weeks because he ‘fell’ at his Washington DC home
The senator was not named on the call, and his office has instead claimed that he had a mild case of pneumonia and had not suffered a stroke or a heart attack.
McConnell said his doctors have told him he cannot return to the Senate floor yet, though he said he is still working with his staff on Kentucky business.
McConnell’s statement landed less than 24 hours after the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham, 71, and days after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, publicly pressed for information on his condition.
Republican leaders are now short of votes on a floor where the margin was already thin, with Graham gone and McConnell absent.
No timeline has been given for the Kentucky senator’s return to Capitol Hill.
Speculation over McConnell’s health intensified after Trump loyalist Laura Loomer claimed an unnamed White House source told her he is ‘brain dead’ and ‘not coming back’ to work.