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Questions swirling around Elaine Chao’s China trip amid Sen. McConnell health scare
Elaine Chao, former Secretary of Labor and wife to Sen. Mitch McConnell, is in the spotlight after her trip to China to meet the country’s vice president draws concerns
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Kentucky’s top elected official wants Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., to come clean about his health
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, called on the ailing lawmaker to reveal his condition to constituents in a letter sent to the 84-year-old on Wednesday
He wrote that over the last few weeks, “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and wellbeing and ability to hold office in the United States Senate.”
MCCONNELL’S WIFE, ELAINE CHAO, SAW NO NEED FOR ‘IMMEDIATE RETURN’ FROM CHINA AS FORMER GOP LEADER HOSPITALIZED
Sen. Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, in the Senate Subway at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., May 19, 2026.(Al Drago/Bloomberg
“As Governor, I request that you fully update Kentuckians regarding the current status of your health,” Beshear wrote. “As public officeholders, we have made a commitment to our constituents to do our best to represent them and to always be transparent.”
“I believe this requires clear communication about one’s ability to serve,” he continued. “We wish you a safe and speedy recovery.”
McConnell’s office did not immediately return a request for comment
MCCONNELL WAS FOUND ‘UNCONSCIOUS’ IN HOME LAST MONTH AS CONDITION REMAINS UNKNOWN
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McConnell has been absent from the Senate, which is currently in recess, for the last three weeks. He was first hospitalized for an unknown condition in early June
Since then, his office has kept details of his health and a timetable for his return close to the vest.
The only public insight into his condition has come from leaked emergency dispatch audio from a June 14 call the day McConnell was sent to the hospital, which revealed the longtime Senate Republican was “unconscious” and may have suffered a heart attack
Over time and with a lack of clarity on the lawmaker’s health, the rumor mill has been running at full speed online, speculating about the exact nature of his condition
HOUSE DEM URGES TRANSPARENCY BY PUBLIC OFFICIALS AFTER GOP COLLEAGUE REVEALS REASON FOR EXTENDED ABSENCE
Laura Loomer, a conservative commentator, claimed that a “high-leveld that the lawmaker “isn’t ever coming back.”
Meanwhile, McConnell’s wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, traveled to China shortly after his hospitalization and remained there until this week. Her office cited that McConnell’s health “did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.”
While the fog around his condition thickened, McConnell did speak with top Senate Republicans
Both Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D., and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso, R-Wyo., said that they had spoken with McConnell at length about the Graham Platner scandal, happenings in the Senate and the recent decisions at the Supreme Court
