Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama is issuing a renewed call for transparency amid his colleague Mitch McConnell’s ongoing hospitalization.
“Somebody needs to do something. Somebody needs to come out and put a little video out,” Tuberville, 71, told a reporter while walking on Capitol Hill on Tuesday, July 21, per a video shared via Facebook. “We didn’t get any information today in our [Senate GOP] luncheon. I don’t know why, what’s going on, but that’s not my business; that’s the leadership’s business.”
Tuberville added that he and his colleagues wish McConnell, 84, “well” amid his continued health issues and month-long absence.
“Hopefully he gets over whatever happened,” Tuberville shared of his colleague. “He’s had a tough couple of years, you know, from falling, hitting these hard floors and all that.”
Tuberville added that McConnell is needed in the senate to help pass President Donald Trump’s MAGA-agenda before they go on summer recess. (Senators will go on August recess starting August 8 and are not scheduled to return to work until September 14.)
“He’s gonna need to come back probably before this three-week session’s over with, because then we’re off for like five weeks,” he explained. “We’re gonna need him because the Democrats [are] not gonna give us any votes.”
McConnell, who represents the Commonwealth of Kentucky, has not been present on the Senate floor since June 11. Three days after his last appearance, McConnell was hospitalized after losing consciousness and subsequently sustaining a fall in his Washington D.C. home. Amid his medical leave, right-wing activist and conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer, a close ally of Trump, 80, claimed that McConnell was brain dead. McConnell’s office later denied Loomer’s allegations.
“Senator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he’s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,” McConnell’s office said in a statement to Us on July 7. “The Senator continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
Less than a week later, McConnell released a statement, giving an update on his condition.
“My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” McConnell said in a written statement shared via his office on July 12. “But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia.”
McConnell has not shared any new updates on his wellbeing since July 12.
