Mitch McConnell Hit With New Demand to Prove He Can Do His Job

Daniel Heuer/REUTERS Sen.

Mitch McConnell may have resurfaced, but he still has a lot to prove before anyone can be sure he’s capable of doing his job, Kentucky Gov.

Andy Beshear says.

An extremely frail McConnell, 84, reemerged in a wheelchair Monday, 92 days after emergency responders dispatched to his home for a reported cardiac arrest rushed him to the hospital.

The longest-serving Kentucky senator in history was wheeled out for another Senate vote on Tuesday and announced in a Monday X post that he would “get back to more of business as usual.” McConnell’s statement offered few details about his injuries or treatment during his three-month absence, while leaving the door open to further absences.

“I will do my best to be present for tough votes when our Conference needs me,” he wrote.

Beshear says that won’t cut it.

The 48-year-old Democrat told LEX News that while he is glad McConnell was able to make his return to the Senate, McConnell hasn’t done enough to settle lingering questions about his fitness for office.

“I still think he has an obligation to prove to the people of Kentucky that he has the capacity to represent us and represent us well.

That means being able to come day after day, to serve on committees,” he said.

Beshear said Kentuckians deserve two senators who can show up and do the job and called on McConnell to explain what’s really behind his prolonged absence.

“We need to make sure we have two active U.S. senators.

Now, he’s taken a step in the right direction.

But it’s my hope that he will talk to the people of Kentucky, be straight about what he’s going through, what the expectations are, and that he can show us he has the capacity to be a day-to-day U.S. senator,” Beshear said. !function(e,n,i,s){var d="InfogramEmbeds";var o=e.getElementsByTagName(n)[0];if(window[d]&&window[d].initialized)window[d].process&&window[d].process();else if(!e.getElementById(i)){var r=e.createElement(n);r.async=1,r.id=i,r.src=s,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,"script","infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js"); McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.