As videos continue to spread of Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) after he returned from his medical incident and months in the hospital, former Republicans are refuting claims from his allies that the once-powerful Republican is as spry as his friends claim.
Speaking on their daily podcast for "The Bulwark," former Republican pollster and publisher Sarah Longwell eviscerated the claim by former McConnell staffer and "job-thirsty" pundit Scott Jennings that McConnell was up to par for his job.
"We have not talked about Mitch McConnell in a hot second and I just want to say when you see the videos of Mitch McConnell in the, like, van that has him in the wheelchair and trying to get his thumbs up, whatever, Scott Jennings did not have a 30-minute conversation with him about foreign policy," blasted Longwell.
A sarcastic Jonathan V. Last joked, "Oh, yeah. They were in the weeds. It's amazing. You know, nobody's really asked Jennings about that lie have they?"
Longwell argued that they should.
"What was the conversation like?" She wondered. "How many words would you say, in total, Sen. McConnell issued during your 20-minute conversation? Was it more than three?”
Longwell pointed out that it has been several months of rehabilitation and McConnell still "doesn't appear to be uttering words."
Former Republican strategist Tim Miller noted that the anti-Iran war vote was 50 to 49. He said that "the corpse of Mitch McConnell cast the deciding vote."
"Well, and also the live body of John Fetterman," added Longwell about the unpopular Democratic Senator from Pennsylvania.
They went on to chat about Sen. John Thune (R-SD), the majority leader in the body, who told an Atlanta Journal-Constitution source about Mike Collins' campaign in Georgia, "At this point, it's about making the patient comfortable."
McConnell "fell" in his Washington D.C. home on June 14. Emergency-dispatch audio, later verified by USA Today, recorded an initial report of "an unconscious person" at the residence. The dispatch also later used the term "cardiac arrest" saying that CPR was in progress.
The story from McConnell, however, was that he fell and was "briefly unconscious," but that he never had a heart attack, a stroke, a concussion, any broken bones, tumors or hemorrhages.
While in the hospital, he said that he developed mild pneumonia. However, he spent 92 days in the hospital, in rehabilitation and then at his home working with a home healthcare worker. He finally returned to the U.S. Senate on Sept. 14.
