US senator Mitch McConnell on Sunday revealed for the first time that a fall led to his hospitalization, breaking the silence about the Kentucky Republican’s condition after weeks of mounting speculation about his health.

The statement included a smiling picture of McConnell with his wife, Elaine Chao, a tacit response to speculation online that he had died or was incapacitated. McConnell held a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section in his hand.

    • BrianTheeBiscuiteer@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      The fact he held up a newspaper is such a cliché I’m inclined to call bullshit. They allow phone calls in the hospital too and even video calls. 🤨

    • Bahnd Rollard@lemmy.world
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      22 days ago

      You can confirm through a bit of Google Fu, that that is the corner of the 2026-07-12 sports section of the Washington Post. However every copy of the image ive seen is grainy or low-res enough and Photoshop exists that I would also require video evidence before rejudge the situation.

      • ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.worldOP
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        22 days ago

        I definitely respect your need for proof, especially in this situation: I think we could all do with more than a simple photograph when it comes to a lying liar who lies facing a governor who is itching to call a special election to replace him if he doesn’t issue some kind of proof of life right now.

        However, the WaPo page itself is probably legit. The article directly links to a fairly hi-res image of that page on the WaPo site. Paragraph 5:

        The statement included a smiling picture of McConnell with his wife, Elaine Chao, a tacit response to speculation online that he had died or was incapacitated. McConnell held a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section in his hand.

        • OwOarchist@pawb.social
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          22 days ago

          I’d believe the page is legit, but they could have had anybody hold that up and then used AI to make that person look like a turtle. (And then post-processed the image to make it grainy and low-res to hide the flaws.)