Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) said Sunday that Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not responded to his requests for more information about the senator’s health and ability to serve following a hospitalization and lengthy rehabilitation stay.
“I’ve heard absolutely nothing back from Mitch McConnell,” Beshear said on CBS News’s Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.
McConnell, 84, was hospitalized June 14, and he and his staff released limited information about his condition for several weeks. Beshear sent McConnell a letter July 8 seeking an update on his health. Days later, McConnell released his first statement since the hospitalization, saying he had suffered a fall and had moved to a rehabilitation center. Earlier this month, McConnell said he had been discharged from the rehabilitation center nearly two months after he was hospitalized and would continue recovering at home. His statement did not say when he was expected to return to Capitol Hill.
In his July letter, Beshear said, “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing, and ability to hold office in the United States Senate” and requested that McConnell “fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status” of his health. In another letter later that month, Beshear urged McConnell to “directly and verbally” address his constituents and provide proof that he remained capable of serving.
Beshear said Sunday that he hopes McConnell is recovering and noted that he has known the senator his entire life, but said McConnell remains accountable to Kentucky voters.
“I do hope that he is getting better,” Beshear said, adding that McConnell’s “boss are the people of Kentucky.”
“This is why the Senate, the Republican-controlled Senate, feels so broken, they feel like they’re not accountable to anyone,” Beshear said. “All he needs to do is call into this show for two minutes, or Fox News for two minutes, or do a video for two minutes to the people he’s supposed to serve. But you know what? He absolutely refuses to do it.”
Beshear also criticized Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD), who previously served as McConnell’s No. 2 when the Kentuckian led the Republican Senate Majority. Thune has deferred to McConnell and his staff for information about his health while expressing hope that McConnell will return to Capitol Hill soon.
“As the leader of the Senate, you’ve got a duty to make sure all of your senators have the capacity to serve, and what is he saying? Not my job,” Beshear said.
Breitbart News reported July 27 that McConnell would miss Kentucky’s annual Fancy Farm political gathering while undergoing intensive physical therapy and awaiting medical clearance to leave rehabilitation and return to his Senate office. His office released a photograph of McConnell with his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and the Office of the Attending Physician said he had been discharged from hospital care but was “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.” McConnell said he was “keeping up with intense physical therapy” designed to rebuild his strength and reduce the risk of future falls.
On August 3 attendees at the Fancy Farm picnic broke into chants of “Where’s Mitch?” as McConnell remained absent from public events following his hospitalization. One Kentucky voter also said McConnell should give an interview to the press, asking, “Why is he hiding from the press?” and saying the state and country did not need uncertainty surrounding one of Kentucky’s senior leaders in the Senate.