EXCLUSIVE — Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) defended Sen. Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) prolonged absence from the Senate on Thursday, claiming that the “people” who are scrutinizing his health “want to put their name in the news.”
The remark amounts to an apparent dig at Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY), a possible 2028 Democratic presidential candidate. This week, Beshear called on McConnell to provide “proof” of his fitness for office or resign.
McConnell said in a Monday statement he is undergoing physical therapy for a fall he suffered in June and will return to the Senate “soon.”
“He hasn’t been here, but he’s not gone,” Fetterman told the Washington Examiner. “And it’s not — I don’t understand. You know, McConnell doesn’t claim that he’s training for ‘Dancing with the Stars.’ I mean, yeah, he’s an old man, and he’s in rough shape. No s***, we all know that.”
“Now, if people continue to criticize this thing, it seems it’s only because they want to put their name in the news,” Fetterman added.
When asked to clarify whether he’s referring to Beshear and his scrutiny of McConnell, Fetterman said, “I mean, he’s a serious guy. I don’t think he needs to use that as a way to try to inject him into news.”
A spokesperson for Beshear did not respond to a request for comment before publication. Under a 2024 law that stripped the governor of his appointment power, Beshear gets to call a special election for vacant Senate seats, but the deadline for doing so is quickly approaching.
Jeffrey Budziak, a political science professor at Western Kentucky University, said the rough cutoff is Aug. 3 based on the amount of time state officials generally need to prepare for such an election.
McConnell, 84, has announced he will retire at the end of the year, and Republicans have since nominated Rep. Andy Barr (R-KY) to replace him. But the lack of transparency around his health — it took weeks for McConnell’s staff to disclose the fall — has fanned speculation that if he resigns early, it would be after the rough cutoff of Monday.
McConnell, a childhood survivor of polio, has been treated for repeated falls over the past few years. His health became a flashpoint late in his tenure as Senate GOP leader when he experienced multiple public freezing episodes.
In the interview, Fetterman said the question of whether McConnell should resign is entirely up to him and compared the story, which has sparked conspiracy theories that McConnell is on life support or otherwise incapacitated, to Democrats’ push to get the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein to step down before her death in 2023.
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“I think there’s a basic level of dignity,” he said. “And they’re focusing on people like — I mean, we had Feinstein. I said the same thing: dignity. You know, at this point, I don’t think it’s really helpful right now.”
Fetterman has a personal experience with health-related scrutiny, as he admitted himself to a hospital early in his Senate tenure to treat clinical depression and was gone for six weeks. He is a reliable vote for Democrats in the Senate but has increasingly criticized members of his own party.