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A photo posted on Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell’s Facebook page may have done little to convince the internet he’s still alive, but it’s working as a punchline for late-night television hosts in the U.S.
The photo was posted on Sunday evening, a month after McConnell was last seen in the Senate and days after rumours about his health had boiled over into open speculation about whether he was alive — along with rampant conspiracy theories about McConnell perhaps even being brain dead.
The Facebook post said McConnell was hospitalized and briefly unconscious after a fall last month. It dispelled rumours he had a stroke or heart attack, and said he was working to return to the Senate soon.
That post and the photo that accompanied it have not quelled speculation about McConnell’s health.
“Not sure how OK he is because that’s actually a video,” quipped Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show.
“Nothing says ‘perfect health’ like having someone hold you up when you’re already sitting,” he said. “Looks like a husband and wife ventriloquist act.”
U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell addressed speculation regarding his recent hospitalization, sharing that he suffered a fall last month that caused him to lose consciousness. McConnell’s absence, combined with the death of South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, has created uncertainty in the U.S. Senate.
Jimmy Kimmel is off for the summer, but that didn’t stop him from sharing his own version of the photograph — with his face in place of McConnell’s.
“For those who’ve been asking, I’m feeling great,” the caption read.
Actor and comedian Ike Barinholtz, who is guest-hosting Jimmy Kimmel Live! this week, also took the opportunity to weigh in on the photo.
“First of all, thank God he is still hot as hell,” Barinholtz said, before offering McConnell wishes for a speedy recovery, adding, “I hope you get the quality health care you fought so hard to deny everyone else.”
The Daily Show’s Jon Stewart also took a more political approach while joining in on the joke.
He started by calling the image of McConnell “totally believable evidence that Mitch McConnell is not only alive, but the happiest boy in the hospital.”
An incredulous Stewart then asked how it was possible that McConnell, 84, could still be alive after 71-year-old Sen. Lindsey Graham was confirmed dead that same weekend.
Stewart shared his own doctored images that he said showed equally likely scenarios: McConnell and his wife riding Splash Mountain at Walt Disney World, renewing their vows on the spire of the Empire State Building and attending a World Cup game with the Grim Reaper.
The comedian then proceeded to lambaste what the show dubbed a “gerontocracy problem in Washington D.C.,” pointing out that the current U.S. Congress is the third oldest in U.S. history and among the least productive in terms of laws passed.
U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell paused while speaking to reporters at an event in Kentucky on Wednesday. Earlier this summer, McConnell paused while speaking at a news conference in Washington and briefly stepped away before returning.
Seth Meyers, back in his late-night host role after a three-week break, focused his criticism right at the top of the U.S. government.
After U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters he “had no idea” how McConnell was doing, Meyers asked, “You don’t? He’s a sitting member of the United States Senate and there was speculation for several days that he might be dead! You didn’t at least want to shoot him a text?”
Meyers then suggested his own text, one that summarized some of the biggest controversies in Washington, D.C., from the past three weeks: “Mitch! Heard you’ve been laid up. Diarrhea bug? Me too! My toilet looks like the Lincoln reflecting pool.”
