CNN Senior Political Contributor Scott Jennings has shared an update on Senator Mitch McConnell’s “private” health battle, saying that he “seemed to be doing a lot better.”
The conservative pundit told his CNN colleagues on Tuesday’s episode of The Arena With Kasie Hunt that he talked with the Kentucky Republican on the phone earlier in the day.
“He left the rehab facility several days ago, and he's been recovering at home,” Jennings, McConnell’s former political director and longtime friend, told a panel hosted by Pamela Brown filling in for Hunt. “I could tell being at home was better than being in the hospital.”
McConnell has not been seen in public since early June after taking a fall that landed him in the hospital. He was subsequently moved to a rehabilitation center, from which he was discharged on Thursday.
When CNN contributor Lulu Garcia-Navarro asked Jennings why McConnell was talking to him and not calling into media outlets with updates, he said the senator is a private man.
“My belief about males of that generation is that they're intensely private,” Jennings, who is also from Kentucky, said. “He's always been a little private about his own personal healthcare.”
McConnell, a survivor of childhood polio, has suffered from a series of falls and public episodes of freezing up in recent years.
In October, McConnell fell in a hallway inside the U.S. Capitol building as he was approached by an activist asking him about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities.
The senator’s office has only provided a few written statements and photos from McConnell in recent weeks, fueling baseless conspiracy theories that the 84-year-old had died and his team was covering it up.
When McConnell released a photo of him and his wife, Elaine Chao, in the hospital last month, some accused the photo of being fake, specifically mentioning the Washington Post’s Sunday sports section that the senator was holding.
But the publication verified that the photo was not AI-generated.
In his most recent statement, McConnell said, “On the advice of my doctors, I’ll maintain an intensive regimen of physical therapy from home during the state work period, and I’ll continue to engage with my staff and colleagues on important Senate business.”
The senator also said he and Chao were grateful for the outpouring of support he has received from friends, colleagues and constituents and the “attentive care” he’s received from medical professionals.
Jennings said he believes McConnell is hopeful of getting back to Capitol Hill by September 14, when the Senate returns from its August recess.
McConnell, Kentucky’s longest-serving senator, is not seeking reelection and will retire next year.
“There's an election in Kentucky in November. He'll be out of office come January,” Jennings pointed out. “So this is the last few weeks of the Senate session of his term.”
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