NOW WHERE IS HE?

McConnell, 84, Goes Missing Again After Senate Return

The Kentucky senator’s first week back after 92 days away has raised concerns.

Senator Mitch McConnell made it through his first week back on Capitol Hill after a three-month absence, during which his team largely kept him from being seen or speaking at all—especially on camera.

On Thursday, the 84-year-old senator was spotted being loaded into an SUV for a third trip to the Hill, where he participated in one vote but did not stick around for two more that afternoon.

And he wasn’t spotted inside the Senate or on his short journey home amid continuing concerns about his health.

McConnell voted “yea” on a procedural vote to move forward with a bipartisan bill regulating college sports, but video of the Senate floor did not capture the Kentucky senator as his name was said and the vote recorded. Plenty of other senators also did not appear on camera as they voted that afternoon.

McConnell did not participate in the next two votes on Thursday afternoon before senators skipped town. He was one of four senators who did not vote on a procedural vote Thursday afternoon and one of six senators who did not vote to confirm a district judge that day.

The Daily Beast asked McConnell’s office where he went after the earlier vote and why he did not participate in the rest of them, but did not receive an immediate response.

The angle of the video of the Senate floor when his vote was recorded suggests McConnell could have been right out of view, close to the dais near where he sat in his wheelchair on the Republican side when he did proceed onto the Senate floor during Monday’s vote.

McConnell, seated in his wheelchair, was captured on video by independent journalist Desirée Townsend being loaded into an SUV outside his Washington, D.C. home on Thursday morning, but he was not captured again on camera the rest of the day.

He was wearing a green tie and smiled for the camera as his team moved him. He gave a thumbs-up with his right hand, a move he’s done repeatedly throughout the week, but did not answer questions. A dark bruise marked his left hand.

His chief of staff, Terry Carmack, who has been sticking close to the senator’s side throughout his reemergence in public, was also with him as the team departed.

Where he went once he arrived on Capitol Hill before and after his one Thursday vote remains a mystery.

No photographs emerged of him being wheeled through the halls of Congress.

Since McConnell made his first public appearances this week after being hospitalized on June 14, there has been a series of moments that have raised further questions about his health.

ELDER ABUSE

Confused Mitch McConnell, 84, Has to Be Told How to Vote

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On Monday, he delivered a brief statement outside the Senate chamber upon his return, but it took place in a part of the U.S. Capitol where reporters are not allowed to take video, a rule McConnell himself, as chair of the Senate Rules Committee, is behind. He did not take questions.

Beyond that statement, he has not spoken to reporters during the brief moments he’s been seen leaving his home, arriving outside his Senate office building, or being wheeled through the halls of Congress.

Instead, he’s kept the same smile plastered on his face and has alternated between a thumbs-up and a peace sign.

During a Senate Agriculture Committee meeting on Wednesday, McConnell appeared confused when he was called on for his vote to advance the Farm Bill. His name had to be said twice as his aides and Republicans urged him to vote “aye” before he lifted his finger and said in a raspy voice, “aye.”

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Video from the meeting captured McConnell staring off as he sat between Republican Senators John Hoeven and John Boozman while others spoke. He made no remarks and left the room early, being wheeled out by his team.

The concerning appearance follows a history of McConnell freezing up in public well before his most recent hospitalization.

While some senators have acted as if everything was normal this week, welcoming McConnell back with smiles and well wishes, his frail state and frozen expressions on camera since his return have drawn online backlash.

MAGA and liberal influencers alike have sounded the alarm that McConnell’s return looks like a serious case of elder abuse and have intensified the calls for term limits for members of Congress.

DOCTOR IN THE HOUSE

Doctor Fears McConnell’s Senate Return Could Prove Fatal

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Dr. Anahita Dua told the Daily Beast his recovery was far from over and said his return to Congress makes it harder. She fears another fall for the fragile senator could kill him.

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