D.C. ROCKED - REPUBLICAN REVEALS TRUTH ON MITCH MCCONNELL
West Virginia Sen. Shelley Moore Capito delivered the latest assessment of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s recovery Monday.
Capito told reporters that a recent visitor found the longtime Kentucky Republican sharp and focused solely on building his physical strength after more than six weeks away from the Capitol.
Video journalist Nicholas Ballasy approached Capito in a Capitol hallway over the weekend and asked directly: “Do you have any idea what’s going on with McConnell? What his condition is right now? Have you heard an update?”
Capito replied: “I mean, I think, obviously, the public information, the information that I have, is that Senator McConnell is recovering and is, uh, healing, and is in a, uh, rehabilitation hospital. I talked with somebody yesterday who visited him, and said that he’s clear-minded and he just needs to get stronger.”
Pressed on whether she planned to visit the senator herself, Capito said she “might wait until he asks for visitors.”
Capito added, “I think, you know, anyone who’s been in the hospital or in a rehab facility, um, being visited, I think, is a pretty sensitive topic.”
The comments come as McConnell’s office continues to emphasize steady progress.
On Saturday, spokesman David Popp told The Washington Post that “the Senator continues to meet with staff regarding Senate and Kentucky business, including discussions on defense appropriations, foreign policy, the farm bill, constituent services, and constituent federal grant requests.”
Popp added, “As the Senator continues to improve in rehab, we will be sure to keep you updated.”
McConnell, 84, has not appeared publicly since mid-June, fueling wild online speculation that Republican leaders have repeatedly pushed back against.
Earlier this month, Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed a lengthy phone conversation with McConnell covering national security issues.
Majority Whip John Barrasso’s office said the two spoke for about 20 minutes and that McConnell “was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
Longtime McConnell ally and commentator Scott Jennings also reported a nearly 20-minute call in which the senator discussed Iran, Ukraine, Maine politics, and Senate history.
Those direct conversations from senior Republicans stand in contrast to those from some more junior colleagues, who have said they have not spoken with him personally.
Capito’s secondhand account from a visitor remains the most recent firsthand-adjacent report available.
The sequence of events began June 14, when McConnell was admitted to a Washington-area hospital after a fall at his home left him briefly unconscious.
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On July 2, his office said he “continues to improve” while working with staff on Kentucky and Senate matters.
Speculation intensified online and in some media outlets, prompting Kentucky’s Democratic governor to demand more transparency publicly.
On July 12, McConnell broke his silence with a detailed personal statement and a photo alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao.
He explained that childhood polio had left him with lifelong mobility challenges that “haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age.”
The fall, he said, left him briefly unconscious but produced no broken bones, concussion, heart attack, stroke, tumors, or hemorrhages.
While hospitalized, he developed a mild case of pneumonia that responded to antibiotics. He had since moved to a rehabilitation center “where I’ll keep regaining my strength.”
A statement from the Office of the Attending Physician confirmed the medical findings and noted that the remainder of his care focused on physical therapy to reduce future fall risk.
McConnell made clear doctors had not yet cleared him to return to the Senate floor but stressed he continued working closely with legislative and constituent staff.
McConnell, who is retiring at the end of his current term in January 2027, has used the episode to underscore his determination to finish the job voters sent him to do
Breaking news an anti Trump Republican Senator just officially resigned. She is officially gone for good and the whole nation is in complete shock now. Who exactly is this Senator? Read the top comment down below right now.
The political landscape continues to change ahead of the uber-important midterm elections that will define the waning years of President Trump’s tenure.
But it’s not just the changes in the nation’s capital that will influence the president; it’s also what is happening on the state level.
Earlier this year, Indiana Republicans defied Trump and refused to engage in a mid-decade redistricting effort that would have netted more GOP seats, as other Republican states had done.
And now, one of those state lawmakers who opposed the Trump-backed plan is resigning his position in the Senate.
“Serving as the President Pro Tem of the Senate for eight years has been among the most significant honors of my life, but it’s time for the Senate to choose another leader,” state Sen. Rodric Bray, who was against the redistricting plan, said on Thursday.
“Our caucus has led the way in numerous policy areas, passing laws that resulted in more than 20 tax cuts, initiatives to lower the cost of health care, laws that resulted in a sharp increase in literacy rates in our schools, and measures that ushered in record capital investment through 2024,” he added in a statement posted by Fox59/CBS4Indy correspondent Hannah Adamson on the X platform.
“That’s a track record I will always stand behind, and I’m incredibly proud to have accomplished this work as the Pro Tem alongside my distinguished colleagues,” Bray concluded.
After Republican lawmakers in Indiana sided with Democrats to defeat a proposed congressional redistricting plan in December, Trump signaled he would support a primary challenge against a leading GOP state senator.
The state Senate’s vote of 31-19 defeated the congressional redistricting plan that Trump has been urging Republicans to back in an effort to preserve their majority in the U.S. House for the 2026 midterm elections.
A total of 21 Republicans teamed up with 10 Democrats to vote against the proposed district lines that might have allowed Republicans to gain two additional seats.
Trump singled out Bray at the time.
“I heard he was against it,” Trump said. “He’ll probably lose his next primary, whenever that is. I hope he does, because he’s done a tremendous disservice.”
Trump added later that he would “certainly support anybody who wants to go against him.”
Following the failed vote, Bray said in a statement per PBS that while Republicans in the state Senate want to see a GOP majority in Congress in the 2026 midterm elections, “the issue before us today was how to get there, and many of my caucus members don’t think redrawing our Congressional map mid-cycle is a guaranteed way for Indiana – or our country – to achieve that outcome.”
In a post on X, Vice President JD Vance also ripped Bray and indicated that the Indiana Senate leader had privately indicated to him and the president that he would not work against passage of the measure.
“Rod Bray, the Senate leader in Indiana, has consistently told us he wouldn’t fight redistricting while simultaneously whipping his members against it,” Vance said.
“That level of dishonesty cannot be rewarded, and the Indiana GOP needs to choose a side,” Vance wrote.
The failure of the GOP supermajority in the state Senate to pass the measure also drew the ire of GOP Gov. Mike Braun, who was fully supportive of it.
Following the plan’s defeat, Braun issued a sharply worded statement warning of potential “political consequences” for Republican lawmakers who joined Democrats in rejecting a new congressional map that would have strengthened the GOP’s position ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
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“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided state senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun posted on X at the time.
“Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the president to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”
