Governor Andy Beshear confronted Senate Majority Leader John Thune over Mitch McConnell’s radio silence to his office.
The Kentucky Democrat sent a letter to the top Senate Republican, and one of the few people who has claimed to have spoken to McConnell, seeking answers, the Daily Beast has learned.
Beshear’s demands of Thune come after his attempts to get answers directly from the Kentucky senator have been completely ignored after the 84-year-old senator was hospitalized more than six weeks ago.
Beshear sent a follow-up letter not only to McConnell on Monday but also sent one to Thune, calling for an investigation.
It comes as McConnell’s office released an update from the octogenarian’s attending physician stating that the senator was undergoing “a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation” but was “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
In the letter to Thune, obtained by the Daily Beast, Beshear said he was writing “under the assumption that [McConnell] is capable of reading and responding verbally, and not incapacitated by means of consciousness or cognition.”
“As Governor of the state he serves, I am calling on him to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of his capability to serve, or resign,” Beshear wrote.
“Per our research, a vacancy in the Senate occurs when a senator dies, resigns, or is expelled by a vote of the Senate itself. If Senator McConnell is unwilling to voluntarily show that he still has the capacity to serve, I will insist that you, as the Majority Leader of the Senate, fully investigate his condition, report to the American people, and begin the process if warranted.”
Beshear sent a similar letter to McConnell and his team and noted in both that all the speculation about the senator’s health and his letters would not have been necessary “with a minimal amount of transparency.”
Beshear told McConnell to “provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign.”
Thune has claimed to have spoken to McConnell but has not provided evidence to back up the calls he said they’ve had. Senate Whip John Barrasso and political commentator and former McConnell aide Scott Jennings have also claimed that they spoke with the Kentucky Republican.
The Daily Beast asked Thune’s office for comment on Beshear’s letter.
It comes after Beshear sent a letter to McConnell on July 8 demanding answers, but has received crickets from the senator and his staff.
Instead, McConnell’s office has released just two images of the senator to the public since then, including one on July 12 and one on July 27. He is smiling at the camera in both with his wife by his side, with her hand on his arm.
In an earlier statement on July 12, attributed to McConnell, he claimed he was recovering from a fall and was briefly unconscious but insisted that he had not had a heart attack or stroke.
In Monday’s statement, McConnell said, “I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders.”
But McConnell has not picked up the phone to call into any news outlets or released any videos since his hospitalization. The lack of evidence on his recovery and his staff’s tight-lipped response have sparked intense speculation and demands for “proof of life.”
McConnell has already missed 38 votes before Monday and is set to miss more this week as the Senate returns to Washington for two more weeks before heading out on August recess.
Beshear has been facing intense pressure to take further action in response to McConnell’s absence.
Kentucky Republicans previously moved to strip Beshear’s power to replace a senator should there be a vacancy in the Senate from the state. Instead, the 2024 law would require a special election to fill a vacant Senate seat, but the cutoff to call one is August 3. If the seat becomes vacant after that time, it would remain empty until January.
Earlier this month, the Democratic governor said he is willing to launch a legal challenge to allow him to choose McConnell’s replacement if the senator cannot return to office, but he has yet to pursue further action.
McConnell’s term is up at the end of this year, and he is not running for re-election, so the November midterms will determine who will take the Kentucky seat come January.
