The governor of Kentucky said he was getting phone calls suggesting Republican Senator Mitch McConnell was dead before his proof of life photo was published last week.
Andy Beshear, the state’s Democrat governor, said that multiple ‘agencies’ called him prior to the photo insinuating that McConnell was dead.
McConnell, 84, shared a photo of himself holding a newspaper amid intense speculation over his health. He claimed a fall had left him ‘briefly unconscious,’ ending weeks of silence from his office about his hospitalization and absence from Capitol Hill.
But Beshear is calling for greater transparency and urging him to be honest with constituents about his ability to serve.
‘It had been a month before anything had been put out, not even an official statement from Senator McConnell,’ Beshear said of the proof of life image in an interview with Katie Couric.
‘In fact, I’d gotten two calls from different agencies – not state agencies – suggesting he’s passed.
He said that while McConnell is entitled to ‘a level of privacy’ about his health, he needs to be forthright with those he works for.
‘When you’ve been in a hospital for a month, and you’ve missed all the votes, which is your job, you owe your boss, like anybody else out there who works, an explanation of what’s been going on and when you’ll get back,’ Beshear said Thursday.
Hellbound and Down 