This week, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) was caught on camera not looking too great. In a Tuesday photo cataloged by the Associated Press, one of McConnell’s hands looks mostly dark purple, while the other looks definitively discolored but more mottled, with visible skin-like colors. The photo was captured after a Republican policy luncheon as the Senate Majority Leader spoke with reporters. What exactly is going on? Is there a health condition that he is hiding from Americans — even as he seeks re-election in an ongoing Kentucky race against Democratic challenger Amy McGrath? Check out the images below:
Uhhhhh look at this picture of Mitch McConnell's hands that @lizzyratner found on AP pic.twitter.com/Y4LJL7mAdh
— Annie Shields (@anastasiakeeley) October 21, 2020
Apparently, it is hard work murdering democracy. https://t.co/Tco0cbdKgi pic.twitter.com/h2jzTKO9EP
— (((Lizzy Ratner))) (@lizzyratner) October 21, 2020
Republicans haven’t exactly been known for their transparency. For days after Trump had supposedly begun moving towards recovery after a diagnosis with the Coronavirus, the White House would not even say if the president had tested negative, although they eventually confirmed as much. There are also still lingering questions about a trip that Trump took to Walter Reed Medical Center in late 2019. That trip had not been previously on the schedule, but the White House claims that the trip was part of a routine physical examination for the president — but reportedly, Vice President Mike Pence was held on standby at the time in case he needed to temporarily assume the powers of the presidency in case Trump had to undergo anesthesia.
Mike Pence said he does not "recall" being told to be on standby to assume the powers of the presidency if Trump was put under anesthesia during his sudden visit to Walter Reed Medical Center last November.https://t.co/VZWZdu5vRf
— Axios (@axios) September 1, 2020
During Trump’s bout with the Coronavirus, updates mostly came from White House physician Dr. Sean Conley, who repeatedly stonewalled when faced with even the most simple questions. While Trump was hospitalized, it took Conley a day after initial questioning about the subject to even admit that Trump had ever been on supplemental oxygen at all. That behavior doesn’t inspire confidence. There’s also, of course, the lengthy record of the Trump administration’s numerous brazen lies about a whole slew of subjects. Trump, for instance, has recently been repeating the claim that a Biden presidency would do away with private health insurance plans across the country, which is an outright lie. Biden has specifically refuted this idea.
So what’s up with McConnell? At this point, who knows. Currently, he is working on rushing the confirmation of Trump pick Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court. The Senate has scheduled a vote on Barrett’s confirmation for this coming Monday — a little less than one week before Election Day, when Trump could easily be voted out of office.
