July 8, 2026
Brain Dead Or Discussing Iran? Speculation Swirls Around Senator Mitch McConnell
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RSS Feed There is a concerning level of secrecy surrounding Republican Senator and former leader Mitch McConnell. The 84-year-old Senator has been in the hospital since June 14th after a disturbing 9-1-1 call that suggests McConnell was unconscious and experiencing cardiac arrest. There has been no official word on McConnell’s condition and no explanation as to what he’s being treated for specifically. While there are growing theories that McConnell may be brain dead, or in a vegetative state, several Republicans are now stepping forward detailing phone conversations they’ve had with him about current events, almost as if they’re providing proof of life, without actually providing it.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
00:00:02
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Wednesday, July eighth, and the mystery of the missing Mitch McConnell deepense that welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. The mystery deepens here Robes, and so does the criticism, and it's getting louder because Robes is not too hard to think back and think, wait a minute, isn't this the exact same thing that Republicans were complaining about Democrats doing with Joe Biden exactly?
00:00:35
Speaker 2: And you mentioned the mystery deepens, the confusion deepens, But the speculation is growing wild right now, because, as we know, in any news cycle, when you have a vacuum of information, when nothing is being reported, when you don't have full transparency, everyone jumps to conclusions, fills in the gaps. And we got a bunch of wild theories out there growing, and.
00:01:03
Speaker 1: They're while that he's incapacitated, that he's brain dead, that he is dead. You've got people just guessing because we haven't seen him. And it's not just Robes that we haven't seen him, we haven't heard from him, and quite frankly, we haven't heard about him even in almost a month. In Robes, this is not just a US Senator. This is one of the most prominent leaders we have had in our government in the past four decades.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Eighty four year old, Yes, eighty four year old Mitch McConnell has led Senate Republicans longer than any other person in the history of our country.
00:01:41
Speaker 3: And he's missing right now.
00:01:42
Speaker 2: And he is missing. And look, I kind of set this up as I was putting this together. What we know, what we don't know? Under the what we don't know category pretty much everything. Because officials won't even acknowledge why he went to the hospital in the first place and what it is he's being treated for.
00:02:02
Speaker 4: That is a problem.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: And the only reason why we have any indication of what might be going on with him is because the media was able to get their hands on a nine to one one call that came from his home on June fourteenth.
00:02:17
Speaker 1: Okay, and this is look, Grove, this is scary stuff when you talk about an eighty four year old and words like cardiac arrests and CPR and unconscious are being thrown around and robes. We have this report from his house, and his own staff won't even say what's going on with him. They won't say yes, that's accurate. No, that's not accurate.
00:02:38
Speaker 3: Nothing.
00:02:40
Speaker 4: I don't understand.
00:02:41
Speaker 3: I'm trying.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Right, we leave space for and everybody hopes Miss McCollum's okay, And you want to leave space for privacy.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: This is the exact thing. You do.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: Have a different obligation Robes when you are in public service, and his is even higher because of how high profile he is in his service. Robes, they I don't know, and they make mistakes like, well, you just saw this with Tom Kane. Tom Kane hain't seen him, and since March he shows up and says, hey, everybody, I've been depressed, but didn't say anything. Robes that whole time. I don't where do we leave room for privacy? And where is legitimate criticism for an obligation you have to your voters. Yes, but for a guy like this Robes, that's a larger obligation to a country that he has been a leader in.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: I absolutely agree with the fact that people have a certain right to privacy. Everybody does. Every human being does. But when it comes to your choice to be a public servant, to be a leader in this nation whose vote matters, whose leadership is influential, to not even give an indication about what's going on with them health wise when they've been missing for a month is to me atrocious.
00:03:54
Speaker 4: I think it's unconscionable.
00:03:57
Speaker 1: Nobody's asking for a full health report, nobody's asking for the documents and to send.
00:04:01
Speaker 3: Us the files.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: Is he okay? When might he get out? Is he going to be back at work? Is he working?
00:04:10
Speaker 3: Now?
00:04:11
Speaker 1: Those are all legit, Roes. You don't even have to tell me what's wrong with him. Just say he is not in good shape right now. He is on the road to recovery. He had this issue. He's expected to be back rose just the expected to be not that.
00:04:25
Speaker 2: Hard and it's not that deep, and just a little bit of information would go a long way.
00:04:29
Speaker 3: That's it.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Just if you just say when he's going to be back, you could at least help with the speculation.
00:04:34
Speaker 3: Roabes, What is going on with miss McConn.
00:04:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it has spiraled. Okay, here's what we do know. He was admitted to the hospital on June fourteenth. The only statement we've received from him via his people is that he appreciates the outpouring of support he's receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: We don't know what we're the outpouring we're giving you, we don't know what it's for, and we don't know what you're recovering from.
00:05:01
Speaker 2: Yes, and so they added that the Senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.
00:05:12
Speaker 4: Well, guess what.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: The Senate is back in session next week.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: And we don't know if he'll be there, and there needs to be some answers.
00:05:18
Speaker 2: The only thing we have to go on is this nine to one one call, and you mentioned it. The paramedics say they performed CPR on an unconscious person who appeared to be experiencing cardiac arrest. This call came from Mitch McConnell's home. We know his wife was traveling in China at the time of this, and it was the same day his staff admitted he was acknowledged he was admitted to the hospital.
00:05:44
Speaker 4: I say all of this because his name was never.
00:05:46
Speaker 2: Mentioned in the nine one one call and is not on any official document. But obviously people put two and two together and we can say, yes, this was the nine one one call regarding Senator Mitch McConnell.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: It's his house, it's his address, it's on the day he was admitted. It's the right age. Yeah yeah, so people pieced it together so they're confident in that road. June fourteenth, and eighty four year old man has been in the hospital for almost.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: A month and was resuscitated back to life apparently, and they're not going to comment on it.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: It's just hard Rose to be critical of because he's going through something. So you're not trying to dump on anybody but Roth. There is still an obligation here, Roapes, how can we even the hell they gave Joe Biden. The entire party is a part of this, by the way, the Republican Party.
00:06:39
Speaker 2: And we can get into and there's divisions within the Republican Party.
00:06:43
Speaker 1: Roaes the hell they gave him and he was still in public, right, we could still see him, We knew he was alive.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: And this is what we're getting now we have a Senator John Thune. When you hear and I laugh, I don't mean to laugh. This is a serious matter. But the way they're describing to try and prove that not only is Mitch McConnell alive, but that he's coherent and on top of things. We have John Thune, spokesperson saying they had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security. You have another Senator, John Barrasso, saying Senator Barasso and McConnell had a lengthy conversation. Their phone call lasted roughly twenty minutes. They discussed Senate races, including this scandal involving Democrat Graham Platner in Maine and a recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits, as well as the Senate's July work period. Like they're trying to give proof of life without actually giving proof of life by adding current events to the alleged conversation they claim to have had with him.
00:07:45
Speaker 1: The Scott Jennings one goes along with that as well, seeing in commentator who worked for him for a long time was an advisor Rose. He said the same thing I talked to him about twenty minutes and listed topics. Robes is like they all got the same talking points to go wow, Robes. That isn't they really didn't think we were going to notice that this is obviously a concerted effort, which then robes leads to more speculation about what the hell is going on that you feel the need to come out with this. Don't tell me that he discussed Argentina's big win at the World Cup. I give a damn. Tell me I talked to him. He sounds good. Tell me he'll be back soon. Said, he's getting through this thing he had to fight with. Tell me something about his health.
00:08:26
Speaker 2: And babe, if he can talk on the phone for twenty minutes, as the senators claim about very current events, why can't he then, just to quell all of this talk, put out something on social media, make a video, have his reps put it out, put it up, let us see him, let us hear him. Don't say he's great and cognitive and ready to get back to the Senate without providing any indication that that's actually true.
00:08:56
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, but we don't.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: Have a high level of faith trust.
00:09:01
Speaker 4: Thank you, keep going.
00:09:02
Speaker 2: I was looking for the right word, but you just find all of those faith in our government these days, specifically Congress.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and be transparent.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: You know what, that's a very rogues every opportunity they have to show improve transparency. They drop the ball. They don't do it when it matters. We got the Epstein Transparency Act, right, I'm saying, they want to keep screaming and yelling how transparent. This is as obvious and easy as anything. I work for you, the voters, and I'm not at work right now. I should tell you why.
00:09:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's like kind of like basic stuff here. And one of the other items that defenders of McConnell or people who are trying to say he's good are pointing to his wife, Elaine Chow, who was Trump's.
00:09:50
Speaker 4: First Transportation secretary. She was Labor Secretary under Bush. She just got back home yesterday.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: She had been traveling abroad, I think, doing something with her family's charitable organizations over in China. And the only thing she has said is that her husband's health quote did not warrant an immediate return.
00:10:13
Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
00:10:13
Speaker 2: Look, you've got an eighty four year old man who's in a wheelchair most of the time in the Senate, who looks feeble.
00:10:20
Speaker 4: He just does. I'm sorry, he's eighty four, who was usually.
00:10:24
Speaker 2: Flanked yep by at least two security folks who actually help him walk when he's not in a wheelchair. He is now found unconscious and CPR is being performed, and his wife says his health did not warrant an immediate return. I'm sorry if I have a hard time even getting my head around that.
00:10:41
Speaker 4: I don't know the.
00:10:41
Speaker 2: State of their relationship or their marriage, and she may be waiting for him to die. Like I just think it's so interesting that they are put Oh see, even his wife didn't come back from China. Okay, that could just point to their marriage, not necessarily his health.
00:10:55
Speaker 1: But you're making the point, Rhodes. They're giving us no information. So I will tell you that is the best indication I have heard about his health is that his wife didn't consider it an emergency. I'm serious, Brote, That's the best.
00:11:10
Speaker 3: I can go with. Nope.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: I don't know the status of their relationship and their marriage, but what I do lean towards is that they're solid and that they're good, and that this woman loves and cares for her husband. And if she's not worried, then neither should I. That is the best that I'll tell you. That is the best I got. Your eighty four year old husband is under cardiac arrest in the hospital. Eh I'll get back when I can.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: I just feel like, my point being that if I don't care who it is, someone I love who's eighty four years old, who is found unconscious and had CPR performed on them and has been in the hospital for weeks, I think I'm coming home.
00:11:49
Speaker 1: But maybe she was giving great confidence in faith. Maybe she talked to him on the phone and said, Babe, don't come back. This is just some bullshit.
00:11:55
Speaker 3: Don't you worry about it. I'm gonna be good.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Maybe, Oh, that is the best I have. However, I understand you would have to fight me, and I would have to fight you to keep me off a plane to get back if you had some issue, Bro, I don't care what it was, if you broke your.
00:12:13
Speaker 4: Ankle, my love.
00:12:15
Speaker 2: Imagine, yes, I agree and back right back at you, obviously, but also just even consider your father, your mother in their eighties and getting this call, even if they told you not to come back from wherever you would.
00:12:27
Speaker 4: So, I don't know, for me, that didn't hold as much weight.
00:12:31
Speaker 1: We talked to our parents first. How bad is she.
00:12:35
Speaker 4: All right?
00:12:36
Speaker 2: So look we're hearing what we heard. It doesn't give a lot of people much faith at all. But when we come back, we're going to tell you some of the speculation that is going on and around the circles of some right linging maga folks, because look, if you weren't aware, Mitch McConnell has been long considered the foil to President Trump, and a lot of folks want him out, want him replaced, and they have some wild theories about what's really going on. Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are talking about former Senate Leader Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been in the hospital since June fourteenth.
00:13:21
Speaker 4: We don't know how he's doing.
00:13:23
Speaker 2: We don't technically even know what he's suffering from, because we've heard nothing from his folks other than generic just statements just to try and make people go away and stop asking questions. But all it's done is fuel more speculation and create more questions.
00:13:42
Speaker 4: And look, we've got folks like.
00:13:44
Speaker 2: Lara Lumer, Marjorie Taylor Green calling him a vegetable, saying he's brained dead.
00:13:50
Speaker 4: That was not cool. That was not cool to call him a vegetable. This is a man who has served our country. I thought that was so.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: So Insensibly, she chose those words.
00:14:00
Speaker 4: It was tough.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: It's too bad.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: She's been trying to get back to the mainstream and she had some moments of Okay, maybe she's not you know what she was being considered and that I thought that was so bro That was so inappropriate.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: It was absolutely inappropriate. And there is a lot more where that came from. But you're hearing from Trump loyalists who are wanting to know what the truth is behind Mitch McConnell. And Glenn Beck actually put this out on next I thought, look, he said some tough stuff, but I also think he gets to the meat of this. He said, we need the truth about Mitch McConnell.
00:14:32
Speaker 4: Now.
00:14:33
Speaker 2: It is unacceptable that the party who spent four years criticizing Joe Biden's health is now silent on McConnell's what's the difference between that and what Iran's leaders are doing with the new Ayahtola. Is McConnell braindead or is he chatting about Graham Platner and Iran? It is our right to know. I do think that that is a fair point. It is our right to know. I do think the American Republic should be told what's going on with Mitch McConnell. He hasn't voted since June eleventh. We don't know if he's going to be returning to the Senate next week, which seems unlikely.
00:15:11
Speaker 4: If he's still in the hospital. We don't know. And look, right.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: Now, the big issue Republicans hold that narrow majority fifty three to forty seven. They don't allow no proxy votes, so if he's not there, he can't vote, and right, right, and that's a big deal. And there's no mechanism right now. I don't know that I necessarily knew this, but this is one of the big sticking points. There's no mechanism to remove or to replace an incapacitated senator. Look, he's not seeking reelection, so he's going to retire in January. But there are some big items on the Republican agenda that need votes and need every single vote they can get.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: And so this is of significance.
00:15:53
Speaker 3: He wasn't a guaranteed Trump vote.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: Well that is, that is he's still a solid Republican.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: Well, and listen to this, Steve Bannon, I don't think he needs an introduction, but I thought this was interesting.
00:16:03
Speaker 4: He pointed this out.
00:16:04
Speaker 2: If Mitch McConnell is over in the hospital growing moss on his north side. Then it's going to be harder for those guys, meaning other members of the Republican Party. That's what they're panicked about. Trump would get even more aggressive if he knew Mitch was no longer on this scene, and you're just left to the infantile thoughts of fun. So there's all this crazy political wrangling going on behind the scenes. Because yes, Mitch McConnell has been someone who stood up to President Trump.
00:16:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's not up for reelection, he can't. Don't give a damn anymore. But yes, he has been of pain in the President's side. But Roles, he's still a solid Republican, a solid Republican vote, And well, you go too far down the road here, Robes. If he ends up, I mean, we don't know how he is. It's tough to but it's part of their calculation, Robes, and he ends up not able to continue to finish his term. If he can't finish, God forbid, if he passes away in office, isn't it a governor appointment?
00:17:09
Speaker 4: It's not.
00:17:09
Speaker 2: If he were to resign or die beforehand. Kentucky requires a special election, so the Democratic governor Andy Basheer would not be able to appoint a temporary successor. That does happen in plenty of states, but I looked it up. Kentucky requires a special election.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: So now you've got to do Now, you've got a mess because you got to get an election done before the election is done, correct, because and whoever wins that of course has the advantage going into the election in November. But it's freaking July. Yeah, there's not enough time. They need him to stay in office. Yes, they need him to be okay, they need him.
00:17:49
Speaker 2: To be able to get out of the hospital and show up in DC to vote.
00:17:56
Speaker 4: How's that going to happen?
00:17:58
Speaker 1: And again, so Groves, they could tell I to say he's going to be back soon.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: It's just the question is, why wouldn't they have already done that. Why wouldn't we have seen a picture, a video, a voice memo, a something. The proof of life they're providing is crap. It's not proof of anything. And unfortunately this is so sad to say in this country. But as Senator's word doesn't necessarily hold weight.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: We don't believe anything coming out of DC because we're just rogues. We know it's with our own eyes. We know our own ears. Everybody knows we are something's going on with him, and there's a reason they're not telling us something is a secret is being kept. It's okay, we could say this out loud. This is this is not politics. They are keeping a secret about his health from the American public. There are reasons for that we do not know. But this leads further distrust. Not just Republicans or Democrats, all of them. We don't believe a damn thing they say to us because they look us in our face and lie to us. Yep, even when our eyes tell us something different.
00:19:03
Speaker 3: We could be looking at a screen.
00:19:04
Speaker 1: How many times, Rodes, we see video showing one thing and then we hear somebody in DC saying, Nope, that ain't what happened. I'm looking at it. So this is just once more got eighty four years old, been in the hospital for a month almost Robes. You remember the daily updates we got about the Pope when he was in the.
00:19:22
Speaker 2: Hopita update because he's eighty Vatican and we need to know who would have thunkt The Vatican is more transparent than our government.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Bro that's where we are.
00:19:31
Speaker 3: We at this point.
00:19:32
Speaker 1: I think Buckingham Palace is more transparent than our government has been lately. It's just this is a shame. This was an opportunity. This is a shame, and it's not that hard. This is a shame, and.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: It's not as if it's some shocking thing. He's eighty four years old.
00:19:46
Speaker 3: We get it.
00:19:47
Speaker 2: This is what happens. Our bodies break down, our minds break down. This is a natural process that is occurring, and we need to acknowledge it and make our decisions based on correct and real time information.
00:20:02
Speaker 1: Go ahead, world with the this idea. Isn't this the oldest Congress ever? I think we've done stories about this, but the average age. We just have so many folks in Congress who are yes, late sixties, seventies, and yes, he's eighty four years old.
00:20:16
Speaker 3: Roades the past few years.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: Every few weeks, it seems like there's a new issue with him health wise. Yes, he's had falls, he's got a concussion before.
00:20:26
Speaker 3: In the past two three years, with.
00:20:28
Speaker 1: Falls, he has been robes falling apart.
00:20:30
Speaker 4: It happens, that's what happens. That's what was happening to Biden. And frankly, we watched Trump walk off that plane.
00:20:37
Speaker 2: Yesterday and Turkey and wobble his way and almost hold on for support.
00:20:42
Speaker 4: This we are watching. We are watching our grandparents.
00:20:48
Speaker 3: Run the country.
00:20:49
Speaker 4: Yes, and they're not.
00:20:50
Speaker 1: It's not that they're not aging gracefully. They're aging how they're supposed to, but they're not showing people how. It's how you're supposed to age, and that it's okay. And any acknowledge that you're missing a step, what is that You're ashamed of being eighty four, You're ashamed of losing a step, You're ashamed to acknowledge that maybe you're not what you're used to be? Rose, What does that tell us about aging? We were seeing every day you suppose it? Rose, We hear somebody dies at the age of seventy eight, We're going, woe, that's young, so young. But then we see this.
00:21:22
Speaker 4: You make such a good point, babe.
00:21:23
Speaker 2: And because of that shame or that embarrassment about a natural process that we are all facing, if we're lucky to get to that point in our lives, that that is the reason why no one's talking about Is it because of his personal pride?
00:21:38
Speaker 1: You're hiding it? Now you're hiding that you're missing a step. You're hiding that you got older. It's embarrassing. The fall because I'm old, It's embarrassing.
00:21:45
Speaker 4: No one wants to be to be in that position.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: Our accident because I'm eighty and I just backed out and I didn't pay attention.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: It happens.
00:21:52
Speaker 1: How many accidents we see as an old person got confused.
00:21:55
Speaker 4: Hey gas, instead of the break roads it happens.
00:21:58
Speaker 3: Just step out and say it.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: We're watching present and Trump getting old right before her eyes, and the last thing he wants you to know is that he's old. It's it's okay age gracefully, folks inappropriately.
00:22:10
Speaker 3: And this is part of it.
00:22:11
Speaker 2: And I think we need to have a conversation at a certain point really soon in this country about whether or not we should have an age limit. Look, my dad was forced to retire at sixty five. I mean, there are reasons why private companies don't want people over certain ages running their businesses.
00:22:29
Speaker 4: Why is that okay for our country?
00:22:31
Speaker 1: See here's the problem with that, Rose, Yes, your dad. The problem is your dad. He is the exception that dude could be running.
00:22:40
Speaker 4: He ran a marathon at sixty nine yes.
00:22:42
Speaker 1: That dude's as sharp as it gets your dad. So when you have the exceptions, the argument is, well, not everybody that gets eighty is going to be losing a step. Well, not everybody, that's true. Your dad is an absolute exception. It's a shame he had to retire say it because he was just getting started. But the point they're being ropes You do have exceptions.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: So what do you do then?
00:23:03
Speaker 1: How can you make the argument and how do you measure well, this eighty year old is good to run for president and this one's not.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: I guess the voters have to decide at the end of the day. I would love to see a limit because I do think that we are running into problem after problem after problem. And look, when you have scandals from some of these younger folks trying to make their way into Congress, that doesn't help either, because who wants to step their foot into the halls of Congress or to lead this country when they know that anything in everything they've ever written, said, posted done their worst everything is now going to become viral and your entire life and your family are going to be humiliated and destroyed by something you said twenty years ago. I mean, it's just we have a system in place where who wants to run for office.
00:23:47
Speaker 1: That's why we hold on to our eighty year olds because they don't have a tweet history.
00:23:52
Speaker 4: I mean that is actually true.
00:23:55
Speaker 2: They don't have the digital footprint all these newcomers have.
00:24:00
Speaker 3: To him so well.
00:24:01
Speaker 1: But mich McConnell whatever, no matter what, what do you think about his politics.
00:24:05
Speaker 3: Obviously, hope he's okay.
00:24:06
Speaker 1: He has had a lifetime of service. Might not have liked his service, not alike, but ropes he should be honored and appreciated for. He's been going to battle for the country a lot in a lot of ways over the years. And some say just for the Republican Party or just for Trump. Let's take a moment. This guy has served a long time.
00:24:24
Speaker 4: He certainly has.
00:24:25
Speaker 2: It's just it's sad to see that this could be how it ends with this stain. I just think maybe perhaps at least there can be some clarity given or offered from his folks, from him directly to the American people about what he is actually dealing with health wise. We can hope that comes out in the next few days. But we will, of course keep our eye on the developing situation. We always appreciate you listening to us. Everyone, I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ.
00:24:50
Speaker 4: Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.
Speaker 1: Hey, the folks, it is Wednesday, July eighth, and the mystery of the missing Mitch McConnell deepense that welcome to this episode of Amy and TJ. The mystery deepens here Robes, and so does the criticism, and it's getting louder because Robes is not too hard to think back and think, wait a minute, isn't this the exact same thing that Republicans were complaining about Democrats doing with Joe Biden exactly?
00:00:35
Speaker 2: And you mentioned the mystery deepens, the confusion deepens, But the speculation is growing wild right now, because, as we know, in any news cycle, when you have a vacuum of information, when nothing is being reported, when you don't have full transparency, everyone jumps to conclusions, fills in the gaps. And we got a bunch of wild theories out there growing, and.
00:01:03
Speaker 1: They're while that he's incapacitated, that he's brain dead, that he is dead. You've got people just guessing because we haven't seen him. And it's not just Robes that we haven't seen him, we haven't heard from him, and quite frankly, we haven't heard about him even in almost a month. In Robes, this is not just a US Senator. This is one of the most prominent leaders we have had in our government in the past four decades.
00:01:30
Speaker 2: Eighty four year old, Yes, eighty four year old Mitch McConnell has led Senate Republicans longer than any other person in the history of our country.
00:01:41
Speaker 3: And he's missing right now.
00:01:42
Speaker 2: And he is missing. And look, I kind of set this up as I was putting this together. What we know, what we don't know? Under the what we don't know category pretty much everything. Because officials won't even acknowledge why he went to the hospital in the first place and what it is he's being treated for.
00:02:02
Speaker 4: That is a problem.
00:02:03
Speaker 2: And the only reason why we have any indication of what might be going on with him is because the media was able to get their hands on a nine to one one call that came from his home on June fourteenth.
00:02:17
Speaker 1: Okay, and this is look, Grove, this is scary stuff when you talk about an eighty four year old and words like cardiac arrests and CPR and unconscious are being thrown around and robes. We have this report from his house, and his own staff won't even say what's going on with him. They won't say yes, that's accurate. No, that's not accurate.
00:02:38
Speaker 3: Nothing.
00:02:40
Speaker 4: I don't understand.
00:02:41
Speaker 3: I'm trying.
00:02:42
Speaker 1: Right, we leave space for and everybody hopes Miss McCollum's okay, And you want to leave space for privacy.
00:02:47
Speaker 3: This is the exact thing. You do.
00:02:49
Speaker 1: Have a different obligation Robes when you are in public service, and his is even higher because of how high profile he is in his service. Robes, they I don't know, and they make mistakes like, well, you just saw this with Tom Kane. Tom Kane hain't seen him, and since March he shows up and says, hey, everybody, I've been depressed, but didn't say anything. Robes that whole time. I don't where do we leave room for privacy? And where is legitimate criticism for an obligation you have to your voters. Yes, but for a guy like this Robes, that's a larger obligation to a country that he has been a leader in.
00:03:25
Speaker 2: I absolutely agree with the fact that people have a certain right to privacy. Everybody does. Every human being does. But when it comes to your choice to be a public servant, to be a leader in this nation whose vote matters, whose leadership is influential, to not even give an indication about what's going on with them health wise when they've been missing for a month is to me atrocious.
00:03:54
Speaker 4: I think it's unconscionable.
00:03:57
Speaker 1: Nobody's asking for a full health report, nobody's asking for the documents and to send.
00:04:01
Speaker 3: Us the files.
00:04:03
Speaker 1: Is he okay? When might he get out? Is he going to be back at work? Is he working?
00:04:10
Speaker 3: Now?
00:04:11
Speaker 1: Those are all legit, Roes. You don't even have to tell me what's wrong with him. Just say he is not in good shape right now. He is on the road to recovery. He had this issue. He's expected to be back rose just the expected to be not that.
00:04:25
Speaker 2: Hard and it's not that deep, and just a little bit of information would go a long way.
00:04:29
Speaker 3: That's it.
00:04:30
Speaker 1: Just if you just say when he's going to be back, you could at least help with the speculation.
00:04:34
Speaker 3: Roabes, What is going on with miss McConn.
00:04:38
Speaker 2: Yeah, it has spiraled. Okay, here's what we do know. He was admitted to the hospital on June fourteenth. The only statement we've received from him via his people is that he appreciates the outpouring of support he's receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital.
00:04:55
Speaker 1: We don't know what we're the outpouring we're giving you, we don't know what it's for, and we don't know what you're recovering from.
00:05:01
Speaker 2: Yes, and so they added that the Senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.
00:05:12
Speaker 4: Well, guess what.
00:05:12
Speaker 2: The Senate is back in session next week.
00:05:15
Speaker 4: And we don't know if he'll be there, and there needs to be some answers.
00:05:18
Speaker 2: The only thing we have to go on is this nine to one one call, and you mentioned it. The paramedics say they performed CPR on an unconscious person who appeared to be experiencing cardiac arrest. This call came from Mitch McConnell's home. We know his wife was traveling in China at the time of this, and it was the same day his staff admitted he was acknowledged he was admitted to the hospital.
00:05:44
Speaker 4: I say all of this because his name was never.
00:05:46
Speaker 2: Mentioned in the nine one one call and is not on any official document. But obviously people put two and two together and we can say, yes, this was the nine one one call regarding Senator Mitch McConnell.
00:06:00
Speaker 1: It's his house, it's his address, it's on the day he was admitted. It's the right age. Yeah yeah, so people pieced it together so they're confident in that road. June fourteenth, and eighty four year old man has been in the hospital for almost.
00:06:13
Speaker 2: A month and was resuscitated back to life apparently, and they're not going to comment on it.
00:06:20
Speaker 1: It's just hard Rose to be critical of because he's going through something. So you're not trying to dump on anybody but Roth. There is still an obligation here, Roapes, how can we even the hell they gave Joe Biden. The entire party is a part of this, by the way, the Republican Party.
00:06:39
Speaker 2: And we can get into and there's divisions within the Republican Party.
00:06:43
Speaker 1: Roaes the hell they gave him and he was still in public, right, we could still see him, We knew he was alive.
00:06:51
Speaker 2: And this is what we're getting now we have a Senator John Thune. When you hear and I laugh, I don't mean to laugh. This is a serious matter. But the way they're describing to try and prove that not only is Mitch McConnell alive, but that he's coherent and on top of things. We have John Thune, spokesperson saying they had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security. You have another Senator, John Barrasso, saying Senator Barasso and McConnell had a lengthy conversation. Their phone call lasted roughly twenty minutes. They discussed Senate races, including this scandal involving Democrat Graham Platner in Maine and a recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits, as well as the Senate's July work period. Like they're trying to give proof of life without actually giving proof of life by adding current events to the alleged conversation they claim to have had with him.
00:07:45
Speaker 1: The Scott Jennings one goes along with that as well, seeing in commentator who worked for him for a long time was an advisor Rose. He said the same thing I talked to him about twenty minutes and listed topics. Robes is like they all got the same talking points to go wow, Robes. That isn't they really didn't think we were going to notice that this is obviously a concerted effort, which then robes leads to more speculation about what the hell is going on that you feel the need to come out with this. Don't tell me that he discussed Argentina's big win at the World Cup. I give a damn. Tell me I talked to him. He sounds good. Tell me he'll be back soon. Said, he's getting through this thing he had to fight with. Tell me something about his health.
00:08:26
Speaker 2: And babe, if he can talk on the phone for twenty minutes, as the senators claim about very current events, why can't he then, just to quell all of this talk, put out something on social media, make a video, have his reps put it out, put it up, let us see him, let us hear him. Don't say he's great and cognitive and ready to get back to the Senate without providing any indication that that's actually true.
00:08:56
Speaker 4: I'm sorry, but we don't.
00:08:57
Speaker 1: Have a high level of faith trust.
00:09:01
Speaker 4: Thank you, keep going.
00:09:02
Speaker 2: I was looking for the right word, but you just find all of those faith in our government these days, specifically Congress.
00:09:09
Speaker 4: Let's go ahead and be transparent.
00:09:11
Speaker 1: You know what, that's a very rogues every opportunity they have to show improve transparency. They drop the ball. They don't do it when it matters. We got the Epstein Transparency Act, right, I'm saying, they want to keep screaming and yelling how transparent. This is as obvious and easy as anything. I work for you, the voters, and I'm not at work right now. I should tell you why.
00:09:37
Speaker 2: Yeah, that's like kind of like basic stuff here. And one of the other items that defenders of McConnell or people who are trying to say he's good are pointing to his wife, Elaine Chow, who was Trump's.
00:09:50
Speaker 4: First Transportation secretary. She was Labor Secretary under Bush. She just got back home yesterday.
00:09:58
Speaker 2: She had been traveling abroad, I think, doing something with her family's charitable organizations over in China. And the only thing she has said is that her husband's health quote did not warrant an immediate return.
00:10:13
Speaker 1: Okay, okay.
00:10:13
Speaker 2: Look, you've got an eighty four year old man who's in a wheelchair most of the time in the Senate, who looks feeble.
00:10:20
Speaker 4: He just does. I'm sorry, he's eighty four, who was usually.
00:10:24
Speaker 2: Flanked yep by at least two security folks who actually help him walk when he's not in a wheelchair. He is now found unconscious and CPR is being performed, and his wife says his health did not warrant an immediate return. I'm sorry if I have a hard time even getting my head around that.
00:10:41
Speaker 4: I don't know the.
00:10:41
Speaker 2: State of their relationship or their marriage, and she may be waiting for him to die. Like I just think it's so interesting that they are put Oh see, even his wife didn't come back from China. Okay, that could just point to their marriage, not necessarily his health.
00:10:55
Speaker 1: But you're making the point, Rhodes. They're giving us no information. So I will tell you that is the best indication I have heard about his health is that his wife didn't consider it an emergency. I'm serious, Brote, That's the best.
00:11:10
Speaker 3: I can go with. Nope.
00:11:11
Speaker 1: I don't know the status of their relationship and their marriage, but what I do lean towards is that they're solid and that they're good, and that this woman loves and cares for her husband. And if she's not worried, then neither should I. That is the best that I'll tell you. That is the best I got. Your eighty four year old husband is under cardiac arrest in the hospital. Eh I'll get back when I can.
00:11:35
Speaker 2: I just feel like, my point being that if I don't care who it is, someone I love who's eighty four years old, who is found unconscious and had CPR performed on them and has been in the hospital for weeks, I think I'm coming home.
00:11:49
Speaker 1: But maybe she was giving great confidence in faith. Maybe she talked to him on the phone and said, Babe, don't come back. This is just some bullshit.
00:11:55
Speaker 3: Don't you worry about it. I'm gonna be good.
00:11:57
Speaker 1: Maybe, Oh, that is the best I have. However, I understand you would have to fight me, and I would have to fight you to keep me off a plane to get back if you had some issue, Bro, I don't care what it was, if you broke your.
00:12:13
Speaker 4: Ankle, my love.
00:12:15
Speaker 2: Imagine, yes, I agree and back right back at you, obviously, but also just even consider your father, your mother in their eighties and getting this call, even if they told you not to come back from wherever you would.
00:12:27
Speaker 4: So, I don't know, for me, that didn't hold as much weight.
00:12:31
Speaker 1: We talked to our parents first. How bad is she.
00:12:35
Speaker 4: All right?
00:12:36
Speaker 2: So look we're hearing what we heard. It doesn't give a lot of people much faith at all. But when we come back, we're going to tell you some of the speculation that is going on and around the circles of some right linging maga folks, because look, if you weren't aware, Mitch McConnell has been long considered the foil to President Trump, and a lot of folks want him out, want him replaced, and they have some wild theories about what's really going on. Welcome back everyone to this episode of Amy and TJ. We are talking about former Senate Leader Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has been in the hospital since June fourteenth.
00:13:21
Speaker 4: We don't know how he's doing.
00:13:23
Speaker 2: We don't technically even know what he's suffering from, because we've heard nothing from his folks other than generic just statements just to try and make people go away and stop asking questions. But all it's done is fuel more speculation and create more questions.
00:13:42
Speaker 4: And look, we've got folks like.
00:13:44
Speaker 2: Lara Lumer, Marjorie Taylor Green calling him a vegetable, saying he's brained dead.
00:13:50
Speaker 4: That was not cool. That was not cool to call him a vegetable. This is a man who has served our country. I thought that was so.
00:13:58
Speaker 1: So Insensibly, she chose those words.
00:14:00
Speaker 4: It was tough.
00:14:00
Speaker 3: It's too bad.
00:14:01
Speaker 1: She's been trying to get back to the mainstream and she had some moments of Okay, maybe she's not you know what she was being considered and that I thought that was so bro That was so inappropriate.
00:14:11
Speaker 2: It was absolutely inappropriate. And there is a lot more where that came from. But you're hearing from Trump loyalists who are wanting to know what the truth is behind Mitch McConnell. And Glenn Beck actually put this out on next I thought, look, he said some tough stuff, but I also think he gets to the meat of this. He said, we need the truth about Mitch McConnell.
00:14:32
Speaker 4: Now.
00:14:33
Speaker 2: It is unacceptable that the party who spent four years criticizing Joe Biden's health is now silent on McConnell's what's the difference between that and what Iran's leaders are doing with the new Ayahtola. Is McConnell braindead or is he chatting about Graham Platner and Iran? It is our right to know. I do think that that is a fair point. It is our right to know. I do think the American Republic should be told what's going on with Mitch McConnell. He hasn't voted since June eleventh. We don't know if he's going to be returning to the Senate next week, which seems unlikely.
00:15:11
Speaker 4: If he's still in the hospital. We don't know. And look, right.
00:15:15
Speaker 2: Now, the big issue Republicans hold that narrow majority fifty three to forty seven. They don't allow no proxy votes, so if he's not there, he can't vote, and right, right, and that's a big deal. And there's no mechanism right now. I don't know that I necessarily knew this, but this is one of the big sticking points. There's no mechanism to remove or to replace an incapacitated senator. Look, he's not seeking reelection, so he's going to retire in January. But there are some big items on the Republican agenda that need votes and need every single vote they can get.
00:15:51
Speaker 4: And so this is of significance.
00:15:53
Speaker 3: He wasn't a guaranteed Trump vote.
00:15:55
Speaker 1: Well that is, that is he's still a solid Republican.
00:15:59
Speaker 2: Well, and listen to this, Steve Bannon, I don't think he needs an introduction, but I thought this was interesting.
00:16:03
Speaker 4: He pointed this out.
00:16:04
Speaker 2: If Mitch McConnell is over in the hospital growing moss on his north side. Then it's going to be harder for those guys, meaning other members of the Republican Party. That's what they're panicked about. Trump would get even more aggressive if he knew Mitch was no longer on this scene, and you're just left to the infantile thoughts of fun. So there's all this crazy political wrangling going on behind the scenes. Because yes, Mitch McConnell has been someone who stood up to President Trump.
00:16:35
Speaker 1: Yeah, because he's not up for reelection, he can't. Don't give a damn anymore. But yes, he has been of pain in the President's side. But Roles, he's still a solid Republican, a solid Republican vote, And well, you go too far down the road here, Robes. If he ends up, I mean, we don't know how he is. It's tough to but it's part of their calculation, Robes, and he ends up not able to continue to finish his term. If he can't finish, God forbid, if he passes away in office, isn't it a governor appointment?
00:17:09
Speaker 4: It's not.
00:17:09
Speaker 2: If he were to resign or die beforehand. Kentucky requires a special election, so the Democratic governor Andy Basheer would not be able to appoint a temporary successor. That does happen in plenty of states, but I looked it up. Kentucky requires a special election.
00:17:25
Speaker 1: So now you've got to do Now, you've got a mess because you got to get an election done before the election is done, correct, because and whoever wins that of course has the advantage going into the election in November. But it's freaking July. Yeah, there's not enough time. They need him to stay in office. Yes, they need him to be okay, they need him.
00:17:49
Speaker 2: To be able to get out of the hospital and show up in DC to vote.
00:17:56
Speaker 4: How's that going to happen?
00:17:58
Speaker 1: And again, so Groves, they could tell I to say he's going to be back soon.
00:18:02
Speaker 2: It's just the question is, why wouldn't they have already done that. Why wouldn't we have seen a picture, a video, a voice memo, a something. The proof of life they're providing is crap. It's not proof of anything. And unfortunately this is so sad to say in this country. But as Senator's word doesn't necessarily hold weight.
00:18:21
Speaker 1: We don't believe anything coming out of DC because we're just rogues. We know it's with our own eyes. We know our own ears. Everybody knows we are something's going on with him, and there's a reason they're not telling us something is a secret is being kept. It's okay, we could say this out loud. This is this is not politics. They are keeping a secret about his health from the American public. There are reasons for that we do not know. But this leads further distrust. Not just Republicans or Democrats, all of them. We don't believe a damn thing they say to us because they look us in our face and lie to us. Yep, even when our eyes tell us something different.
00:19:03
Speaker 3: We could be looking at a screen.
00:19:04
Speaker 1: How many times, Rodes, we see video showing one thing and then we hear somebody in DC saying, Nope, that ain't what happened. I'm looking at it. So this is just once more got eighty four years old, been in the hospital for a month almost Robes. You remember the daily updates we got about the Pope when he was in the.
00:19:22
Speaker 2: Hopita update because he's eighty Vatican and we need to know who would have thunkt The Vatican is more transparent than our government.
00:19:30
Speaker 4: Bro that's where we are.
00:19:31
Speaker 3: We at this point.
00:19:32
Speaker 1: I think Buckingham Palace is more transparent than our government has been lately. It's just this is a shame. This was an opportunity. This is a shame, and it's not that hard. This is a shame, and.
00:19:41
Speaker 2: It's not as if it's some shocking thing. He's eighty four years old.
00:19:46
Speaker 3: We get it.
00:19:47
Speaker 2: This is what happens. Our bodies break down, our minds break down. This is a natural process that is occurring, and we need to acknowledge it and make our decisions based on correct and real time information.
00:20:02
Speaker 1: Go ahead, world with the this idea. Isn't this the oldest Congress ever? I think we've done stories about this, but the average age. We just have so many folks in Congress who are yes, late sixties, seventies, and yes, he's eighty four years old.
00:20:16
Speaker 3: Roades the past few years.
00:20:18
Speaker 1: Every few weeks, it seems like there's a new issue with him health wise. Yes, he's had falls, he's got a concussion before.
00:20:26
Speaker 3: In the past two three years, with.
00:20:28
Speaker 1: Falls, he has been robes falling apart.
00:20:30
Speaker 4: It happens, that's what happens. That's what was happening to Biden. And frankly, we watched Trump walk off that plane.
00:20:37
Speaker 2: Yesterday and Turkey and wobble his way and almost hold on for support.
00:20:42
Speaker 4: This we are watching. We are watching our grandparents.
00:20:48
Speaker 3: Run the country.
00:20:49
Speaker 4: Yes, and they're not.
00:20:50
Speaker 1: It's not that they're not aging gracefully. They're aging how they're supposed to, but they're not showing people how. It's how you're supposed to age, and that it's okay. And any acknowledge that you're missing a step, what is that You're ashamed of being eighty four, You're ashamed of losing a step, You're ashamed to acknowledge that maybe you're not what you're used to be? Rose, What does that tell us about aging? We were seeing every day you suppose it? Rose, We hear somebody dies at the age of seventy eight, We're going, woe, that's young, so young. But then we see this.
00:21:22
Speaker 4: You make such a good point, babe.
00:21:23
Speaker 2: And because of that shame or that embarrassment about a natural process that we are all facing, if we're lucky to get to that point in our lives, that that is the reason why no one's talking about Is it because of his personal pride?
00:21:38
Speaker 1: You're hiding it? Now you're hiding that you're missing a step. You're hiding that you got older. It's embarrassing. The fall because I'm old, It's embarrassing.
00:21:45
Speaker 4: No one wants to be to be in that position.
00:21:47
Speaker 1: Our accident because I'm eighty and I just backed out and I didn't pay attention.
00:21:52
Speaker 3: It happens.
00:21:52
Speaker 1: How many accidents we see as an old person got confused.
00:21:55
Speaker 4: Hey gas, instead of the break roads it happens.
00:21:58
Speaker 3: Just step out and say it.
00:21:59
Speaker 1: We're watching present and Trump getting old right before her eyes, and the last thing he wants you to know is that he's old. It's it's okay age gracefully, folks inappropriately.
00:22:10
Speaker 3: And this is part of it.
00:22:11
Speaker 2: And I think we need to have a conversation at a certain point really soon in this country about whether or not we should have an age limit. Look, my dad was forced to retire at sixty five. I mean, there are reasons why private companies don't want people over certain ages running their businesses.
00:22:29
Speaker 4: Why is that okay for our country?
00:22:31
Speaker 1: See here's the problem with that, Rose, Yes, your dad. The problem is your dad. He is the exception that dude could be running.
00:22:40
Speaker 4: He ran a marathon at sixty nine yes.
00:22:42
Speaker 1: That dude's as sharp as it gets your dad. So when you have the exceptions, the argument is, well, not everybody that gets eighty is going to be losing a step. Well, not everybody, that's true. Your dad is an absolute exception. It's a shame he had to retire say it because he was just getting started. But the point they're being ropes You do have exceptions.
00:23:03
Speaker 3: So what do you do then?
00:23:03
Speaker 1: How can you make the argument and how do you measure well, this eighty year old is good to run for president and this one's not.
00:23:10
Speaker 2: I guess the voters have to decide at the end of the day. I would love to see a limit because I do think that we are running into problem after problem after problem. And look, when you have scandals from some of these younger folks trying to make their way into Congress, that doesn't help either, because who wants to step their foot into the halls of Congress or to lead this country when they know that anything in everything they've ever written, said, posted done their worst everything is now going to become viral and your entire life and your family are going to be humiliated and destroyed by something you said twenty years ago. I mean, it's just we have a system in place where who wants to run for office.
00:23:47
Speaker 1: That's why we hold on to our eighty year olds because they don't have a tweet history.
00:23:52
Speaker 4: I mean that is actually true.
00:23:55
Speaker 2: They don't have the digital footprint all these newcomers have.
00:24:00
Speaker 3: To him so well.
00:24:01
Speaker 1: But mich McConnell whatever, no matter what, what do you think about his politics.
00:24:05
Speaker 3: Obviously, hope he's okay.
00:24:06
Speaker 1: He has had a lifetime of service. Might not have liked his service, not alike, but ropes he should be honored and appreciated for. He's been going to battle for the country a lot in a lot of ways over the years. And some say just for the Republican Party or just for Trump. Let's take a moment. This guy has served a long time.
00:24:24
Speaker 4: He certainly has.
00:24:25
Speaker 2: It's just it's sad to see that this could be how it ends with this stain. I just think maybe perhaps at least there can be some clarity given or offered from his folks, from him directly to the American people about what he is actually dealing with health wise. We can hope that comes out in the next few days. But we will, of course keep our eye on the developing situation. We always appreciate you listening to us. Everyone, I'm Amy Roboch alongside TJ.
00:24:50
Speaker 4: Holmes. We'll talk to you soon.