Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear (D) on Tuesday challenged CNN to call Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) live on air to prove that the lawmaker is alive and well after being absent from Congress for more than 40 days following a medical emergency.
On July 7, CNN contributor Scott Jennings posted online that he had a conversation with McConnell via phone after the Kentucky Republican was hospitalized last month.
“Listen, if he supposedly had a 17-minute conversation with Scott Jennings, he can call in and have a three-minute conversation with you,” Beshear told host Kaitlan Collins during an appearance on CNN’s “The Source.”
“He can go to camera and just let us know he’s doing all right, which is what we all ultimately hope for,” he continued. “But it is incumbent upon him to have enough respect for the people of Kentucky and the United States of America to do the bare minimum and be honest and transparent.”
Beshear earlier this week issued McConnell an ultimatum: Release an update regarding his whereabouts and disclose his health issues or resign.
“To be fair, Scott Jennings works for CNN. He can go on air, dial him up, put him on speakerphone, and we can put all the speculation to rest,” he said Tuesday.
When Jennings appeared on CNN’s “NewsNight with Abby Phillip” on July 7, he declined to call the senator with the microphone on.
McConnell’s office has not yet made a statement specifying his medical condition. However, a Monday update from the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) said he’s engaged in physical therapy to help him recover from a fall.
OAP physicians visit with him every day, per the release, but they say he is “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office,” according to his office.
Beshear has argued there are “important events” occurring in the senator’s absence and noted this is not the first time the 84-year-old lawmaker has been out for an extended period of time.
“Listen, what’s happening here is someone has been away from their job for about six weeks,” the Democratic governor continued. “And anybody who’s watching, if they were away from their job for six weeks, they’d have to call their boss, explain what’s going on, and talk about when they could get back to work.”
“I respect everyone’s privacy, especially with their health. But when you run for these types of offices, you give up some of that privacy,” he added.
In recent years, McConnell was hospitalized for a week with flu-like symptoms in February and has fallen several times in the U.S. Capitol.
