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A photo posted on the Facebook page of Sen. Mitch McConnell may have done nothing to convince the internet that he’s still alive, but we serve as a flashpoint to late-night television hosts in the US.
The photo was posted Sunday evening, a month after McConnell’s last appearance in the Senate and days after rumors about his health filled with speculation about whether he was alive — and conspiracy theories about McConnell possibly even mentally dead.
The Facebook post said McConnell was admitted to the hospital and briefly passed out after a fall last month. He dismissed rumors that he had a stroke or heart attack, saying he was working to return to the Senate soon.
That post and accompanying photo didn’t end speculation about McConnell’s life.
“I’m not sure how good you are because that video is actually,” Jimmy Fallon joked The Tonight Show.
“There’s no such thing as ‘full health’ like someone lifting you up when you’re sitting,” he said. “It looks like a husband-and-wife ventriloquist act.”
US Sen. Mitch McConnell spoke speculatively about his recent hospitalization, sharing that he had a fall last month that left him in a coma. McConnell’s absence, combined with the death of South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, has created uncertainty in the US Senate.
Jimmy Kimmel is out for the summer, but that didn’t stop him from sharing his version of the photo — his face is in McConnell’s place.
“For those who have been asking, I’m feeling fine,” the caption read.
Actor and comedian Ike Barinholtz, who hosts visitors Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, he once again took the opportunity to weigh in on the photo.
“First of all, thank God he’s still hot as hell,” Barinholtz said, before wishing McConnell a speedy recovery, adding, “I hope he gets the quality health care he fought so hard to deny everyone else.”
The Daily Show’Jon Stewart also took a political approach while engaging in comedy.
He started by calling McConnell’s picture “credible evidence that Mitch McConnell is not only alive, but the happiest boy in the hospital.”
A disbelieving Stewart then asked how it was that McConnell, 84, was still alive after Sen. Lindsey Graham, 71, was confirmed dead that weekend.
Stewart shared photos of himself that he says show potential scenarios: McConnell and his wife riding Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World, renewing their vows at the Empire State Building and attending a World Cup game with the Grim Reaper.
The comedian then went on to criticize what the program called “the crisis of gerontocracy in Washington DC,” pointing out that the current US Congress is the third oldest in US history and among the least productive in terms of legislation passed.
US Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell paused while speaking to reporters at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday. Earlier this summer, McConnell paused while speaking at a news conference in Washington and left briefly before returning.
Seth Meyers, who has returned to his late-night role after a three-week hiatus, focused his criticism on the US government.
After US President Donald Trump told reporters he “didn’t know” how McConnell was doing, Meyers asked, “You don’t know? He’s a sitting member of the United States Senate and there was speculation for several days that he might be dead! Didn’t you want to at least take a picture of him?”
Meyers then held up his script, which summed up some of the biggest controversies in Washington, DC, from the past three weeks: “Mitch! Heard you got laid. Diarrhea bug? Me too! My bathroom looks like a Lincoln reflection pool.”
