Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has yet to return to the chamber after he was hospitalized on June 14.As of this writing, the long-serving Kentucky Republican is reportedly continuing to recover from a fall and pneumonia, per a statement he released earlier this month on X, along with a photo of him and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Despite the apparent seriousness of the situation, however, a columnist with a Louisville publication felt the need to rip McConnell and his career in what he called a “pre-obituary” last week.
Joseph Gerth, a columnist at McConnell’s hometown paper, also aimed at the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who passed away suddenly earlier this month.
Gerth did not attempt to present himself as neutral.
He described McConnell as a “detestable figure” and said he intentionally wrote the column while the senator was still alive so that no one could accuse him of speaking ill of the dead.
He claimed that McConnell, 84, dismantled civil rights that he once championed and ‘enabled’ President Donald Trump, as though the Kentucky senator was somehow responsible for Trump’s two election victories.
“Unlike Nixon, McConnell never paid for his sins that have damaged our nation’s trust in government, destroyed the country’s ability to have meaningful dialogue and cemented our nation’s politics as an arena in which winning is the only thing that matters,” Gerth wrote in what could also be said about Democrats.
Gerth said the ‘inspiration’ behind his column was the death of Graham.
“That got me thinking about Sen. Mitch McConnell, who was rumored to be dead or on life support or in a coma or whatever and was the odds-on favorite to beat Graham to the gates of hell in the days before Graham’s death,” Gerth wrote.
“And, so with McConnell allegedly on the mend, I figured I’d go ahead and tell you what I think about McConnell now — when no one can complain, ‘How dare you write that about a dead guy?’” he added.
McConnell has served in the Senate for 42 years. He’s won reelection six times. He had already announced, however, that he would be retiring after his current term, which expires in January.
“He had more guts as a young man than he had as an old man,” Gerth wrote.
“It seems somehow fitting for the ultimate shape-shifter, who wrote about accompanying Sen. John Sherman Cooper to see Johnson sign the Voting Rights Act into law, that the court he created was the court that struck down the last remaining significant provision,” he added.
McConnell released a statement along with his and his wife’s photo featuring him sitting in a hospital bed fully clothed.
“When you elected me to a seventh term and made me our Commonwealth’s longest serving Senator, you did so trusting that I’d keep showing up to fight for you every day. And over the past several weeks, Elaine and I have appreciated both your well wishes and your honest questions about what was keeping me away from the Senate,” he wrote.
“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it,” he added.
“But at the same time, I’ve had more than my share of experience with physical vulnerabilities. Surviving childhood polio meant spending my entire life with mobility challenges.
“They haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age. And last month, I took a fall which landed me in the hospital,” he noted further.
““My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” he said.
“But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” the statement added.
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Kentucky Columnist Publishes Critical Essay on Mitch McConnell’s Political Legacy
Former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has yet to return to the chamber after he was hospitalized on June 14.As of this writing, the long-serving Kentucky Republican is reportedly continuing to recover from a fall and pneumonia, per a statement he released earlier this month on X, along with a photo of him and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
Despite the apparent seriousness of the situation, however, a columnist with a Louisville publication felt the need to rip McConnell and his career in what he called a “pre-obituary” last week.
Joseph Gerth, a columnist at McConnell’s hometown paper, also aimed at the late Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who passed away suddenly earlier this month.
Gerth did not attempt to present himself as neutral.
He described McConnell as a “detestable figure” and said he intentionally wrote the column while the senator was still alive so that no one could accuse him of speaking ill of the dead.
He claimed that McConnell, 84, dismantled civil rights that he once championed and ‘enabled’ President Donald Trump, as though the Kentucky senator was somehow responsible for Trump’s two election victories.
“Unlike Nixon, McConnell never paid for his sins that have damaged our nation’s trust in government, destroyed the country’s ability to have meaningful dialogue and cemented our nation’s politics as an arena in which winning is the only thing that matters,” Gerth wrote in what could also be said about Democrats.
Gerth said the ‘inspiration’ behind his column was the death of Graham.
“That got me thinking about Sen. Mitch McConnell, who was rumored to be dead or on life support or in a coma or whatever and was the odds-on favorite to beat Graham to the gates of hell in the days before Graham’s death,” Gerth wrote.
“And, so with McConnell allegedly on the mend, I figured I’d go ahead and tell you what I think about McConnell now — when no one can complain, ‘How dare you write that about a dead guy?’” he added.
McConnell has served in the Senate for 42 years. He’s won reelection six times. He had already announced, however, that he would be retiring after his current term, which expires in January.
“He had more guts as a young man than he had as an old man,” Gerth wrote.
“It seems somehow fitting for the ultimate shape-shifter, who wrote about accompanying Sen. John Sherman Cooper to see Johnson sign the Voting Rights Act into law, that the court he created was the court that struck down the last remaining significant provision,” he added.
McConnell released a statement along with his and his wife’s photo featuring him sitting in a hospital bed fully clothed.
“When you elected me to a seventh term and made me our Commonwealth’s longest serving Senator, you did so trusting that I’d keep showing up to fight for you every day. And over the past several weeks, Elaine and I have appreciated both your well wishes and your honest questions about what was keeping me away from the Senate,” he wrote.
“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct – I can’t help it,” he added.
“But at the same time, I’ve had more than my share of experience with physical vulnerabilities. Surviving childhood polio meant spending my entire life with mobility challenges.
“They haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age. And last month, I took a fall which landed me in the hospital,” he noted further.
““My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages,” he said.
“But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. While receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I’ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,” the statement added.
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