False Reports of McConnell's Death Circulate as Health Questions Persist
Kentucky's governor says he fielded calls suggesting the senator had died, while a GOP colleague demands more transparency.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said he received two phone calls from state agencies indicating that Sen. Mitch McConnell had died, even though the Kentucky Republican remains hospitalized following a fall in June, Fox News reported.
The false alarms landed amid weeks of unanswered questions about McConnell's condition and underscore how little the public has been told since his hospitalization. Beshear's account, relayed to Fox News, illustrates how quickly rumor filled the vacuum left by limited official updates.
The uncertainty has spilled into open Republican frustration. Sen. Josh Hawley issued a pointed rebuke of McConnell's office, saying the senator's team has an "obligation" to constituents and the country amid the persistent questions swirling around his health, according to Fox News.
Neither McConnell's office nor Senate Republican leadership has offered a detailed public accounting of his condition since the fall, leaving colleagues, reporters and Kentucky officials to react to secondhand and, in this case, erroneous information.
— Compiled from reporting by Fox News.