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Stiff-Looking Mitch McConnell Resurfaces in D.C.

The beleaguered senator was spotted again after his three-month break.

Mitch McConnell was rolled out again on Tuesday after his 92-day hiatus from the public eye.

A video shared on X by independent journalist Desirée Townsend showed the 84-year-old Kentucky senator being wheeled out for another Senate vote after his highly anticipated return to Congress on Monday.

The former Senate majority leader did not respond verbally to any questions from reporters as his team loaded him into a minivan, but did acknowledge them with thumbs-up and peace-sign gestures.

The senior Kentucky senator was accompanied by several staffers who escorted him to the Senate chamber for an afternoon vote on the CLARITY Act. McConnell was not present for the roll call vote earlier Tuesday morning.

The Daily Beast has reached out to McConnell’s office for comment.

McConnell had not appeared in the Senate chamber for three months since his mysterious hospitalization in mid-June.

During his long-awaited return on Monday, the senator’s team instructed reporters not to record him speaking, though journalists were allowed to photograph him and report what he said.

“I must admit, after two years, two decades after dodging your questions, I wasn’t sure how many of you would be here today,” McConnell joked to reporters before his vote on the Senate floor. “So I’m glad to see you. Time to get back to work to finish the job for this Congress. I’m here to work on the farm bill.”

CNN’s chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju reported that McConnell’s voice sounded “slower” than it used to be.

The veteran Republican was flanked outside the chamber on Monday by his chief of staff, Terry Carmack, who makes $226,000 per year, and his communications director, Stephanie Penn, who makes $214,000 per year.

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The Daily Beast’s political reporter Sarah Ewall-Wice noted that he did not take any questions from reporters outside the chamber and that he was heard “softly responding in a raspy Kentucky drawl” while on the Senate floor.

The senator appeared gaunt in both of his latest public appearances, looking particularly thinner and frailer than when he was last in the public eye before his hospitalization.

A dark bruise also covered most of his left hand, similar to the discolored blemishes often seen on President Donald Trump’s hands.

Speculation over the senator’s health ran rampant throughout his 92-day hiatus, as cryptic messages from his team and unclear details about his hospitalization did little to clarify McConnell’s condition.

McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, has yet to comment on her husband’s return to work.

Chao, who has been married to McConnell for over three decades, was in China at the time of his June hospitalization—remaining there for at least another three days while her husband’s condition was unknown.

Her spokesperson previously told the Daily Beast that McConnell’s condition “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.” This has been the only public statement she has released about her husband throughout his disappearance.

She later posed for multiple photos with McConnell while he was hidden from public view, which sparked further doubts about whether they were legitimate.

Chao did not answer questions about her whereabouts and her husband’s health that the Daily Beast asked on Monday.

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Vic VerbalaitisNight Breaking News Reporter

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