Mitch McConnell Has Returned To The Senate, America Can Relax But Social Media Refuses
After months away following a fall that hospitalized him, the 84-year-old senator returned Monday and offered reporters a brief update from a wheelchair.
Black News 
And just like that, Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky proves that he’s alive by returning to the Senate to vote Monday after months of speculation since a June fall hospitalized him.
McConnell’s absence from the Senate fueled speculation that the Kentucky senator had passed away, as he was quiet for weeks about his condition. It didn’t help that the 84-year-old congressman refused to answer proof-of-life calls from Kentucky Governor Andy Beshar. Not to mention that online critics really had a field day after weeks of chatter that the Senator had passed only for what appeared to be A.I. photos were released alleging that the senator was healthy and upright, the Associated Press reports.
Eventually, aides to the senator noted after almost a month that the senator had been “briefly unconscious” due to the fall and was being treated for mild pneumonia in the hospital.
AP notes that McConnell briefly addressed reporters Monday from a wheelchair and was speaking slowly and smiling. He even joked that he was sure how many reporters would be there after he’d dodged so many during his recovery.
“He said he was back in the Senate to work on a pending farm bill and because he has an ongoing interest in NATO and ‘backing up our good friends who are totally in the fight against the Russians,’” AP reports.
Reporters and photographers were told by Senate staff they were not allowed to take video, despite video being regularly being permitted in that area, but photos were allowed.
McConnell has served Congress for four decades, making him the longest-serving Senate leader, and will retire at the end of January.
“Republicans have nominated Rep. Andy Barr to replace him, while Democrats have nominated former state lawmaker Charles Booker. McConnell has said he is determined to finish out his term,” AP News reports.
See social media’s reaction to McConnell being back in action below.
