Sen. Mitch McConnell Issues Update on Health and Cancels Attendance at Fancy Farm Event
Senator Mitch McConnell's office said he remains in rehabilitation after a June fall and will not attend Kentucky's Fancy Farm gathering, noting he is not yet cleared to return to Congress.
Sen. Mitch McConnell's press office released a new statement and a second photograph of the senator and his wife, Elaine Chao, taken on Sunday. The statement said McConnell continues daily rehabilitation and physical therapy under his doctors' orders and is not medically cleared to leave the rehab facility or resume Senate duties. Consequently, he will miss Saturday's Fancy Farm political picnic in western Kentucky.
"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. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday," the statement read.
The Office of the Attending Physician added that McConnell’s recovery is complicated by his history of childhood polio, which affects his mobility, and that he remains under daily medical supervision.
McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 after a fall and a mild case of pneumonia. Since then he has missed 38 Senate votes, and all communications have been issued in written statements by his team. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear and other officials have called for more direct updates, citing concerns after rumors about the senator’s condition circulated.
Rand Paul is currently the only active Kentucky senator serving in the chamber while McConnell remains in recovery.