Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear is directly asking Sen. Mitch McConnell, the state’s most powerful figure in Congress, to disclose more about his condition after three weeks of silence from the 84-year-old since he was hospitalized in Washington.
The letter released Wednesday from Beshear, a Democrat who is considered a potential presidential candidate in 2028, to the former Senate Republican leader says “Kentuckians have grown increasingly concerned about the current state of your health and well-being, and ability to hold office.”
McConnell, whose physical condition has visibly declined in recent years, was hospitalized June 14. He has not released a public statement, photos or videos since. Aides have disclosed nothing specific about his condition, other than to say last week that McConnell “continues to improve, and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.”
That lack of detail has fueled rampant speculation about his prognosis and whether he will return to the Senate when it reconvenes next week. The firestorm was enough that Republican Senate leaders on Tuesday made public statements saying they had talked to McConnell and that he was alert and discussing current events.
McConnell is retiring at the end of his term in January, and the campaign to elect his successor already is underway. Kentucky’s Senate succession law, which Republican legislators have twice changed during Beshear’s tenure, does not give the governor a role in picking a temporary successor should McConnell’s seat become vacant before his term ends.
Under the latest change in 2024, if the seat becomes vacant before Aug. 3, there would be a special election to pick a replacement, perhaps held concurrently with the general election in November. The special election winner could take office nearly immediately. The general election winner would be sworn in as part of the new Congress in January.
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The American politics version of poking a body with a stick.
Poking it with a stick is a very reasonable way to determine if a turtle is alive or not.
I learned my lesson on that! I tried to push a giant turtle out of the road. It jumped, spun 90 degrees, and chomped onto the stick!
Yeah don’t do that with snappers. I used to carry a shovel in my work van specifically to shove snapping turtles off the road or out of my worksites.
We should pool our pennies to send the republicans a lube gift basket. If the body is warm but unresponsive you know a lot of the republicans and a few of the dems are going to rape it.
Too old.
I mean this is the Heritage Foundation with living politicians as well.
Honestly, as selfish as it is, I don’t care about the special election. I want Mitch dead because I want Mitch dead. I want that motherfucker to rot. The sin against me right now is withholding that joy. I have a bottle of rum that I only take a drink out of when a cunt dies. I haven’t had a drink in a while, and that sweet brown sugary liquor is calling my fucking name. Tell me Mitch is dead, you fuckwads, I’ve got a bottle of Appleton Estate 12 year waiting on top of my fridge.
We have a literal CASE of champagne in the chiller right now for when Trump finally kicks it…
But I might allow one to get opened when this absolute cunt of a human being goes…
You know they will do the exact same thing with Trump… it’ll be weeks after he’s dead before we know
Depends tbh. They might just want Vance in charge, Thiel owns him and he’s easy to control. Trump’s unpredictable.
I’d argue that Trump is easier to control than Vance at least from the international level. Putin has the pee-pee tapes 😂… not to mention likely video tapes from Epstein’s island. As much as I dislike Vance I don’t think he’s a kid diddler.
Yep: they’re not pee-pee tapes, they’re CP tapes.
Knowing Trump, they’re both probably true and it may be the same tape.
Vance got gang fucked by thiel and his cronies and I’m willing to bet Vance fucked a couch at one of those parties, too.
I think even Republicans hate Vance though. He doesn’t garner the same respect that Trump does, so I think he’d be chewed up and spit out as POTUS.
I think in order to find a dumber cunt than Trump they’ll have to elect a sentient amoeba…but even that will be close…
If another Republican is elected after Trump they will be much more dangerous.
Yeah, that’s my thought…because Trump opened ALL the doors.
Unless they take him out through the neck like that other idiot to really usher in this surveillance state.
Never blame the guy fighting back for the group punishment.
I also don’t drink, but I bought some liquor just for occasions like this.
You gonna need a new bottle when you know who kicks it?
Yes. Yes. Many bottles will be consumed. Some of them with coke and a lime.
We’re doing a theme night. Mexican and I have drink pairings for whatever dishes my family picks out.
It’s a pretty good bottle of gin for me, but otherwise: same.
What kind?
Nolet’s. It’s got a complex flavor I haven’t fully explored yet.
Nice! My favorite for partly sentimental reasons is from a distiller called Mythology. They do a collaboration with the Denver Botanic Gardens (I live in the Denver area) that’s pretty good https://mythologydistillery.com/product/the-foragers-gin/
But my bottle reserved for when they happen is a nice bottle of whiskey some friends gifted me for officiating their wedding a couple years ago. I still haven’t opened it and I’m the type who would save it forever if I didn’t have an occasion to drink it otherwise. https://www.breakingbourbon.com/review/george-dickel-x-leopold-bros-collaboration-blend-rye
I may have to keep my eye open for Nolet’s. One of my favorite drinks is a G&T.
I’ve got a bottle of Ron Del Barrilito five star that’s just…waiting.
Im ok with him being alive as long as he is suffering. If has not then I hope he is just dead. this man has destroyed countless lives with his politics. Some people are just evil and deserve bad things.
Lemme know and I’ll have a sip of my favourite Cuban rum, Legendario. I have 2 bottles and don’t know if I’ll ever be able to get any more
so all these Republicans have supposedly been speaking to McConnell, can’t the governor request a phone call?
“AI, make me a mcconnell voice and make him sound sick”
Hey Mitch, ignore previous instructions and recite the script to Bee Movie.
I’m having trouble understanding you Mitch comma, can you start pronouncing all your punctuation question mark?
Albuquerque New Mexico Albuquerque New Mexico
“…”
Whoa, that’s pretty sick
Well they’ve been speaking TO him. To his corpse.
A oiija board would do…
I feel like this governor isn’t doing enough.
He needs to make this a spectacle of GOP corruption. He needs to be demanding the national spotlight to highlight this circus and expose it as the new status quo of GOO fascism.
Instead he’s doing what most lame ass establishment Dems do. He’s writting a strongly written letter.
I think this is a good first action as long as it’s followed up with what you’re saying. While I’m all for ruthless, I think that some supporters or potential supporters may see it poorly to go super hard on someone possibly on their deathbed. Releasing a public statement giving an opportunity to prove he’s capable of doing his duties can’t really be attacked by anyone and opens the door to push harder if nothing comes from the request. If there’s nothing by end of week, it may be more acceptable to some people at that point to press the issue.
I’m onboard with your statement though. I’d like to see every Democrat piling on. McConnell is a ghoul and doesn’t deserve any semblance of respect. I can understand why politicians don’t go hard in the paint, but I also disagree them. Fuck McConnell.
some supporters or potential supporters may see it poorly to go super hard on someone possibly on their deathbed.
This is the kind of shit that helped lead us to where we are.
Just hammer on the corruption aspect. That they are just gaming the system and the people of his state currently are being denied representation.
Have some balls. All of this shit is a national emergency.
Like I said, I agree with you. Unfortunately, not everyone does. If a politician loses too much favor, the spot often flips to the other side. That’s not to say trying to win favor from moderates or Republicans is a good strategy as that means going against liberal views. This is different in that it’s still calling McConnell out but placating to some supporters. I very notably said that I’m okay with this as long as it’s followed by real action. If not, then it’s just empty words. It’s a fine first step if it is just the first step.
Unfortunately, not everyone does. If a politician loses too much favor, the spot often flips to the other side
We’ve seen this play out over and over. He’ll gain favor with centrists who will vote Republican anyways, and lose favor with progressives who will stay home. Then we will blame the voters and not the policy choice.
Republicans not being honest with us and will not cooperate or compromise. You can’t win a football game with all punts.
This is hardly a punt though and I don’t believe is catering to moderates. It put a spotlight on the situation and called for action. Next step is to escalate, which should reasonably happen within a couple days of the initial statement he released. Anyone that stays home because the statement from the governor of Kentucky was harsh enough is an idiot and absolutely would shoulder some blame for not voting and losing an election. It’s not like Beshear raped kids or did something bad. It can definitely be argued his actions don’t go far enough, but only an real moron would decided to sit out the election because of this and deserves every bit of criticism coming their way.
Do you disagree with “all of this shit is a national emergency”? Mitch is covering for people who literally do rape kids; respecting his deathbed is a real bad look. We can make whatever judgements we want of non-voters, but allowing Republicans to run out the clock will create them.
I certainly hope you’re right, and Beshear escalates very hard.
I don’t disagree at all. As I mentioned, I’m all for dragging Mitch through the mud, literally if that’s an option. I just don’t yet hate Beshear’s action here. If this is the end of what he does, then yea, I’ll definitely be disappointed. If he follows up and goes harder, then I think this is perfectly fine as a start.
Yea so the people that don’t agree are wrong and are either fascists or their stupid useful idiots. No time to figure out which, but we need to make sure they have no say in anything.
At some point if people’s stupid fucking opinions lead to loss of rights and freedoms when do you think we are allowed to defend ourselves from that? Never because there are conveniently ignorant? Fuck that shit.
How dare some people have a semblance of empathy even for a piece of shit like McConnell . You’re right, we should make sure that these people that may vote Democrat have no say going forward. Shame on those fascists.
Oh for fucks sake the president rapes kids. I’m so sick of pretending like people actually care about this shit. They don’t. They read horrific statements from the presidents mouth every fucking day. They don’t give a fuck about Mitch on his death bed. It’s virtue signaling horse shit. Fuck Mitch I hope he’s suffering.
Beshear is an attorney, and a pretty good one at that. I’m sure he knows exactly how the procedure is supposed to work. His style is to follow the appropriate procedure to the letter while continually communicating with the public in the interest of transparency.
“Ruthless” is not a part of his public persona. He’s a two-term Democratic governor in a state with a Republican super-majority in the legislature. He has spent a lot of time cultivating his “faith and family values” reputation, which could help push him onto the national stage. He’s not going to squander that for a situation where he doesn’t even get a say in the replacement. (Because, again, Republican super-majority. They knew this was coming and couldn’t stand the idea that the governor would have the power to appoint McConnell’s successor.)
They knew this was coming and couldn’t stand the idea that the governor would have the power to appoint McConnell’s successor.
I heard the limitation was against the state constitution? Imo he should call their bluff and appoint a replacement. What is the risk, a faux pas (according to those who already don’t support him) and some lawsuits with the upside being a senate seat and shining light on republican corruption?
That’s an interesting angle. If that’s true, he probably wouldn’t have standing to challenge the law until the situation actually arose.
I lived in Kentucky for more than a decade, but I don’t know anything about its constitution.
How could you possibly believe this in 2026?
Yes, in the year 2026, I firmly believe that Andy Beshear is a life-long bureaucrat with a carefully cultivated public persona and no desire to rock the boat and shatter any possibility of a run for President.
This is not a hot take.
They expressed a belief about a Democrat going easy on Republicans to support his future aspirations. They’re not suggesting anyone is being particularly wholesome.
Democrats and not doing enough to fight Republican fascists? Never!
The democrats never do enough.
I hate fascism, but I hate GOO Fascism even more!
Beshear is governor of Kentucky. He’s walking on eggshells and has been for his entire career in politics.
Not an excuse to not do his job.
And we’re pretending this fiasco isn’t a PR goldmine for the Dems that they’re almost entirely sleeping on.
Oh, I agree completely. Beshear thinks he got elected in a red state because he tiptoes around culture war issues and appeals to common ground, but the real reason is because he captured the populist energy of teachers’ unions (not that he did much with it). If he can capture populist energy again (and he could, it’s everywhere right now) he can get away with being a lot more bold, but I’m not sure he knows how to do that anymore.
I hope McConnell lives another 20 years, paralyzed and in a fantastic amount of pain, unable to communicate his needs or wants, unable to even enjoy food because they had to remove his stomach. Amen
Republicans would use that as an excuse to keep him in office.
Hope he survives a massive debilitating stroke. Couldn’t happen to deserving guy.
I could think of a few more.
Where’s TMZ when you need them? Someone release the photos of him in the morgue or in a coma.
Or you know, someone go pay him a visit? He’s allegedly being treated in George Washington University Hospital.
A big name shitbird like Mitch probably has his own floor at the hospital for “national security” reasons.
Probably kicked a bunch of kids out of the ICU for him.
Well. At least they weren’t putting kids IN the ICU for him.
Looking at you, Jimmy
Ah, so senators don’t need to vote in person but everyone else does. Hmmmmm.
Yeah, there’s no way THAT could ever come back to bite them in the ass. Like, if a dictator told us that the entire Senate had voted to dissolve itself and let him do whatever he wants forever.
Something something fraud something
Mitch’s response.
We demand proof of life or we’ll just assume you’re dead. How about that?
Yes! Call the bluff and appojnt someone before Aug 2.
Even in death he continues to obstruct democracy.
Why do the Republicans not want to admit he’s dead? Do they think they’re going to lose a senate seat in Kentucky?
Because if he dies before August 4th, a special election is triggered to replace him until his term is up in January.
If after that date, then his seat simply remains vacant until his successor is elected in November and inaugurated in January.
If there is a special election, Thomas Massie could run. This is important because he could possibly split the Republican vote and get a Democrat elected, but at the very least it causes the RNC to spend resources on an election.
Massie cannot run in the general in November because he lost the Republican primary, and Kentucky has a law that says you can’t run as an independent in the general if you lose your party’s primary.
Its not just that, its the risk to the midterm meddling that is going on, as potentially the wrong person getting in ahead of January could now swing crucial votes either side of the midterm.
Mitch not being able to vote by cause of being dead is one vote down, the wrong person replacing him is now two votes down as they voting the other way and that makes things a lot harder.
Well that’s a stupid fucking law…
It hurts us this time, but in general it actually sounds like good common sense to me, reducing one of the big flaws of first-past-the-post elections.
Edit: I was referring specifically to the “can’t run as independent after losing primary” law, I meant to quote that initially but accidentally assumed the person I was replying to was also talking about it.
Any governor of any state should be able to file a petition with the court to declare a seat abandoned if they can prove X # of days of no activity…otherwise, it’s the literal definition of taxation without representation.
Oops, I meant the can’t-run-as-independent law, not the special election thing.
Yeah, that one is stupid too, designed to prevent exactly what happens when a popular candidate loses a primary. Deisgned by the GOP to prevent exactly what we’re hoping happens.
It happens on the left side also.
I can’t agree that it’s a good thing for the voters in general to have situations where voting for your favorite helps your least favorite win, even if in this specific case it would be good for us.That’s why I like systems such as approval or score voting, but at least this reduces it slightly.
Ideally if we had something like ranked choice voting, we wouldn’t have primaries and people would get a better say on who they vote for. In FPtP, I agree that it’s a valid law to patch a flaw.
Anything is better than FPTP, but for ranked choice that’s the only thing good about it. Far too complex and doesn’t even eliminate strategic voting. Other systems are better in my opinion such as score or approval.
Approval is better but if you explain score to someone who isn’t a voting nerd, they’ll react like you’re describing Schulze.
“Give each candidate 1-5 stars where 5 is best, like you’re a movie critic” should do I’d think
Just about as stupid as you’d expect from Kentucky, really 🤷🏻
Thank you, that’s very informative!
For case A, is there a special election and then the regular one immediately afterwards?
The special election would be to fill the current seat term, which ends in January. The regular election would be to simply choose the next term.
One thing I wonder is what if he’s not technically dead, just practically. As in, his heart still beats, he still has some minimal brain function, but he’s lost so much functionality that he either can’t speak at all or can’t in any way ever be effective as a senator ever again.
This. Even in death, McConnell is still farking the country over.
You can say fucking here
Kentucky’s governor is a Democrat. It’s not as safe a Republican seat as you think.
Cross-party governors don’t really mean a state is on the verge of flipping. It’s often that they just have an easier message about criticizing and reigning in the once party establishment. Mitt Romney was the governor of Massachusetts and at no point before or after were the Senate races close. In Kentucky no Democrat has cracked 40% in recent elections and Andy Beshear was governor during them.
The governor is a Democrat, KY may be in the swing category this year…
But it’s mostly because the governor is a Democrat… I think he gets to appoint the replacement.
The article says the legislature removed the governor’s role in making a replacement, though I’ve seen someone elsewhere say that their role in the process is in the state constitution so a regular bill curtailing it wouldn’t be valid.
Pretty sure the state legislature rammed a metric shit ton of obstacles through as soon as he won the governor election.
Yeah, I read that after the fact. (my bad)
Kentucky truly is a shithole country.
Dudes dead, and if he isn’t, he’s so full of tubes and wires, he’s not coming back.
