Multiple attendees broke out in a “Where’s Mitch?” chant on Saturday during Kentucky’s iconic political picnic as the 84-year-old senator was conspicuously absent.
Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has not appeared in public since he suffered a medical emergency on June 14, and those gathered at the Fancy Farm event apparently wanted answers regarding his well-being, MEAWW reported.
“The chants quickly turned the annual political gathering into a fresh reminder of unanswered questions surrounding McConnell’s condition. They also came as attention remained fixed on the approaching August 3 deadline tied to a potential Senate vacancy,” the outlet said.
Video footage of the gathering, which has been an annual event since 1880, caught the moment many in the crowd shouted “Where’s Mitch? Where’s Mitch?”
The chants were recorded around the 45-minute mark:
Breitbart News reported July 27 that McConnell was going to miss the event because he was undergoing intensive physical therapy and waiting for medical clearance to leave rehabilitation and return to his office.
His office released a photograph of the senator and his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao:
On Tuesday, Gov. Andy Beshear (D-KY) said McConnell should have enough respect for Kentuckians to be transparent when it comes to his health.
“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. You know that when you run, Senator McConnell has a duty to the people of Kentucky to show that he continues to have the capacity to do this job, and it’s time that he step forward and do it, less than if he supposedly had a 17-minute conversation with Scott Jennings. He can call in and have a three-minute conversation with you. He can go to camera and just let us know he’s doing all right, which is what we all ultimately hope for. But it is incumbent upon him to have enough respect from the people of Kentucky and the United States of America to do the bare minimum and be honest and transparent,” he stated.
Voters told WWLTV they believe he should be more forthcoming about the situation:
“I don’t think there’s any question that he should give an interview to the press. Why is he hiding from the press? We as a state and as a nation don’t need that kind of doubt about one of our senior leaders in the U.S. Senate,” one man said.
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