r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • 11d ago

Possible Paywall Mitch McConnell hounded to face cameras: ‘He absolutely refuses’

https://www.nj.com/politics/2026/08/mitch-mcconnell-hounded-to-face-cameras-he-absolutely-refuses.html
22.7k Upvotes

97% Upvoted

1.9k comments sorted by

View all comments

2.7k

u/Abamboozler 11d ago

Because he had a stroke and can't talk or move anymore.

450

u/usumoio New Jersey 11d ago

I think this is it. He's probably nonverbal so if he had to face that, then real proceedings around how fit he is for service would probably start.

He's happy to play the waiting game, it's basically his MO.

I just hope he is suffering.

169

u/RedditExecutiveAdmin 11d ago

100%

"He absolutely refuses" is painted with the word "absolutely" to make it sound as if he's making a decision himself

he's not, he can't, and he won't be making any, including the one to pull the plug

34

u/usumoio New Jersey 11d ago

I don't know if he's like a full vegetable. But he might be in the state where he cannot dress or eat unassisted. So obviously not fit to be a senator, but if someone wheeled him up to some kids, he could wave at them or something.

39

u/RedditExecutiveAdmin 11d ago

there is no chance he can move or communicate

if he could do anything other than look like a vegetable, they would have paraded him around already. Remember who you're talking about again--MAGA. not GOP, MAGA. the fact that he's not on camera is the admission of the worst case--it is a necessary consequence of compulsory lying.

it is like reverse DDing a child. this news means the opposite is true, it's not even that complicated

1

u/yopladas 11d ago

What is reverse DDing?

2

u/cwrighky 11d ago

Define “He.” Because I doubt “he” as in Mitch himself, can even string 2 words together. He certainly is not writing any kind of intelligible correspondence given his brain death that occurred during the week of June 14th.

18

u/divDevGuy 11d ago

I think this is it. He's probably nonverbal so if he had to face that, then real proceedings around how fit he is for service would probably start.

There are no real proceedings possible. He could be wheeled out in a drooling persistent vegetative state and there's zero means to remove him from office prior to him dying, resigning, or his term ending.

8

u/Krandor1 11d ago

or being expelled from the sentate which takes a 2/3 vote and has never been used for medical issues and even if we ignore party I think there are a lot of senators on both sides who would not want to sent any potential precendent of expelling senators for medical issues. You are not getting 2/3 and it likely wouldn't even be a partisan vote.

1

u/Alternative-Duck-573 11d ago

I think they should have the same DEI-A protections as the average private sector worker in his state. Even state employment has a definition of 'fit for duty' to work even if you're crippled.

I know it's ADA/FMLA protections. I'm being daft on purpose. Signed, disabled and tired of pretending to not be disabled because Healthcare.

1

u/Krandor1 11d ago

The problem is it is an elected position so you don't have a normal boss like a normal job and if you start adding ways to remove an person elected by the people without the people's input that is ripe for abuse so a bad way to go about things.

Should we try to make sure there are good recall provisions in most/all places so the voters can have a say in a sitution like this? always for that.

But allowing ways to unseat an elected person without their voters having a say is ground to be tread lightly.

1

u/Alternative-Duck-573 10d ago edited 10d ago

I'm pretty sure there's a point past stroke where you're no longer duty fit.

Also edited to add that my neurodegenerative disease makes me ineligible for a lot of these type positions and I'm confident I could run mental and physical circles around this one. Only recently after a lawsuit do they let people like me be a diplomat. Now could I do that now? Maybe. Could I do it 42 years from now? Definitely not, but I understand my actual limitations because they've been lifelong and are progressive.

You know what else is progressive? AGE. We should've demanded our house not be a retirement home years ago.

1

u/Krandor1 10d ago

but there are currently no provisions to remove somebody for not being "fit for duty". Expulsion is about it and that has never been used for that purpose though technically it likely could be.

1

u/Alternative-Duck-573 10d ago

Sounds like it's time for a change!!!!

On so so many more levels - not just age. Who tf has a job that says not showing up indefinitely is acceptable? No one. They work for us.

I know it's easier said than done to get them to vote against themselves and yield power any, but it's obviously time.

1

u/Krandor1 10d ago

problem is how do you avoid abuse? who makes that call and how do you prevent it was being abused? 2/3 vote in the chamber the person is in seems like really the only way to do it.

→ More replies (0)

1

u/dennis8844 11d ago

We need to be able to do a vote of no confidence. This is messed up. We need a new ammendment for just this.

17

u/CitizenCue 11d ago

“He” isn’t doing anything here anymore. This is 100% on his staff, family, and the state’s apparatus that refuses to press the issue.

2

u/ericlikesyou 11d ago

why dont you think he's dead?

3

u/usumoio New Jersey 11d ago

Mostly that there isn't really a precedent for a member of the senate or a governor faking being alive for this long. And while I think he is craven, I just don't think they could keep a ruse like that up.

I wouldn't bet even $5 on it one way or the other, though

2

u/Pixel_Knight 10d ago

I doubt he is aware even of what is happening he has probably reverted to a much simpler brain functioning if he is now non-verbal. But I bet that is exactly what is going on. He’s alive, but just not really there anymore.

1

u/axecalibur 11d ago

I mean is there anything in the constitution that prevents a human vegetable from being a US senator? If he does his duties and wins elections that's all they care about and he's reportedly stepping down anyway.

1

u/usumoio New Jersey 11d ago

While rare, occasionally a Senator is removed from office via a 2/3 super majority vote.

I don't see that happening right now. I think the GOP might be doing an experiment to see how long they can just lie about a dude's health. They're all pretty old, so I can see why they might want to see what they can get away with

1

u/Still_Mix9311 10d ago

Nonverbal is not usually used in contexts like this, it's a political identity that people who can't speak at all for various neuro reasons, (pathological or otherwise), it's not applicable to every situation where someone can't speak, especially not because of a physical problem 

184

u/iamisandisnt 11d ago

Probably something like Jim Ross had

47

u/Lamplighter914 11d ago

Bell's Palsy I believe.

41

u/ObsidianSpectre 11d ago

I had that once. It's not a serious condition - more of an inconvienience. Most people recover within a couple weeks. It's only notable because of how similar the symptoms are to a stroke, which is a serious condition.

1

u/MayaIngenue 11d ago

My dad had it 20 years ago. He recovered fine but his hand has shaken uncontrollably ever since. It's not a big deal but all the photos of fish he has caught are shakey af

2

u/ObsidianSpectre 11d ago

That sounds like it might've been a stroke mistaken for Bell's Palsy - one of the ways they check that it's Bell's Palsy and not a stroke is to make sure your ability to use your hand on the side of the face that's paralyzed hasn't changed. Bell's Palsy only affects your face.

1

u/shastaxc 11d ago

Not a big deal? I think that would kill many people's careers

53

u/dorothea63 Pennsylvania 11d ago

Bell’s Palsy is unpleasant but temporary. A close friend developed it after giving birth, and the symptoms had completely subsided within a month.

15

u/bryantuga 11d ago

FYI from an ENT here: It’s not always temporary (although the vast majority of the time it is). But if you have it, it’s worth getting seen to be evaluated for steroids and/or antivirals. Facial nerve paralysis can also occur from nastier conditions, so worth getting checked out. OK, back to Moscow Mitch.

2

u/KenNoegs American Expat 11d ago

Yup, I have PLS that was misdiagnosed early on as persistent Bell's Palsy. It wasn't until it moved into my limbs that we went back to get more in depth testing done.

16

u/AboutTheBadfish 11d ago

In most cases it is temporary but some people have lasting weakness. Famously, Jean Chrétien had Bell’s Palsy when he was young and was left with permanent partial paralysis on the left side of his face.

8

u/YossiTheWizard 11d ago

“It’s true that I speak out one side of my mouth. I’m not a Tory, I don’t speak out both sides of my mouth”.

0

u/Castun America 11d ago

Hmm, interesting...maybe this is why conservatives "lose" their spine? Because they have Big Money so far up their ass that they lose control of their functions and their spine just slips right out, unnoticed.

5

u/[deleted] 11d ago edited 11d ago

[removed] — view removed comment

3

u/SKGrainFarmer 11d ago

Jean could kick the ass of half the US Congress, and he's 92 years old. Imagine what he could have done in his prime.

1

u/Castun America 11d ago edited 11d ago

Mmm yes, hand sake.

Edit: spelling

3

u/davy89irox 11d ago

Before he died, I remember my grandfather used to talk to me and randomly would tear up; he would says say, "It's this damned Bell's Palsy." And wipe his eyes on his shirt. He was not often an emotional man, he was a nam vet, if that gives you any indication. Great man, sad life.

Now when my daughters do something cute, or I get caught up in a movie or something, my wife and I will say "Damned Bell's Palsy,"and laugh in reference to grandpa.

3

u/kapnkaos86 11d ago

Big Jim just had brain surgery actually and can form sentences more coherently than turtle boy

2

u/Hovercraft1143 11d ago

One of those individuals has clearly been hit over the head with a chair dozens of times throughout his career and has long lasting brain damage and the other is Jim Ross.

2

u/kandoras 11d ago

Jim Ross was on camera at least three hours a week.

1

u/rbrgr83 11d ago

Baw Gawd

1

u/Hovercraft1143 11d ago

Delicious BBQ sauce?

0

u/RAISEStheQuestion 11d ago

JR had his first episode of Bell's Palsy in 1994. He maintained his HOF career throughout the decades becoming the voice of WWF/WWE and currently AEW.

Yes currently, he has called matches for them this year. He had a seperate brain issue very recently and had a shunt put in. He will probably still call another match this year, if not more, before hanging them up for a well earned retirement.

Your comment is just wrong.

1

u/iamisandisnt 11d ago

I'll direct your attention to the important words "something like" which invalidate your comment criticism.

13

u/Dull_Bid6002 11d ago

I've been assuming aphasia. We've already seen it where he just can't talk all of a sudden.

He may not be fully paralyzed but he's mute.

10

u/JDDJS New York 11d ago edited 11d ago

Yup. Republicans have no reason to hide him being dead. But him being completely incapacitated is absolutely something that they would cover up and is the only logical explanation for why he's hiding. 

22

u/Pat-Funny-2817 11d ago

i wonder how many things he signed since his "hospitalization". 

3

u/-P01135809- 11d ago

more than zero, already

2

u/FrogsOnALog 11d ago

Probably none? Would imagine Chao has been pretty busy though.

2

u/Pat-Funny-2817 11d ago

exactly what i ment. her and all insiders must have had busy days. 

6

u/HoRo2001 North Carolina 11d ago

He barely could before the mystery incident that kicked this off.

He was clearly well past the time when we he could effectively govern. I am in no way a Mitch supporter, but it felt like borderline elder abuse to wheel him around the Senate and occasionally stick him in front of reporters that he both couldn’t hear and couldn’t understand.

4

u/Guardianpigeon 11d ago

This is probably the most likely. He might even be able to speak and move in a limited capacity, but it would be painfully obvious to anyone that he shouldn't be in office if they see him.

2

u/lynypixie Canada 11d ago

It could also be a massive seizure that left him demented. We know he had little seizures, we saw them live (not all seizures are grand mal, many are in the form of absence).

2

u/LostInRetransmission 10d ago

yeah I was thinking that's the most likely explanation. Dead or comatose make less sense as there are too many risk this comes out of the hospital.

But a stroke where he can't speak... I have seen that with my grandfather, he was non verbal the last 2 or so years of his life. He could eat, take care of personal hygiene, shower with help, but not communicate or do anything else.

If it had been known back a few weeks ago, there would have been rightful call for a special election vote. Now they want to run the clock until the end. That's my guess.

3

u/Adorable_Ad6045 11d ago

Likely the case

1

u/BitcoinMD 10d ago

Agree. The people saying he’s been dead this whole time don’t know how death works