Andy Beshear Tells Mitch McConnell: 'Provide Proof of Your Capacity To Serve or Resign'
The Kentucky governor, a Democrat, also asked John Thune to investigate.
Speaking of Senator Mitch McConnell, who hasn’t been seen in public since his June 14 hospitalization, Governor Andy Beshear told reporters Tuesday, “All we’re asking is just a little bit of proof.”
The Democratic governor said he wrote to Mr. McConnell a second time requesting he speak to constituents, adding a demand that the Kentucky Republican demonstrate his capacity to serve or resign. And he said asked Senate Majority Leader John Thune to investigate Mr. McConnell’s condition if the senator does not comply.
He sent the letters Monday, the same day Mr. McConnell’s office released a statement from the 84-year-old saying he would skip this weekend’s Fancy Farm Picnic, a Graves County political tradition he has attended since his 1984 election.
“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday,” Mr. McConnell stated. He said he appreciated the “continued well wishes” he’s received and is “looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon.”
A separate statement from the Office of the Attending Physician, released alongside Mr. McConnell’s remarks, said the senator “continues his recovery from a fall at home in June” and is undergoing “a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls.” It said his “bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility,” and he “is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
In his letter, Mr. Beshear told Mr. McConnell it has been “43 days since news of your hospitalization,” during which “you have cast zero votes, engaged in no official activities, and aside from two photos and corresponding statements, have made no effort to communicate with your Kentucky constituents or the nation.” He added that “even the attending physician’s written statement does not discuss your actual condition, including whether you can speak, reason, or carry out your duties as a senator.”
“As Governor of the state you serve, I am calling on you to directly and verbally address the people of Kentucky and provide proof of your capacity to serve, or resign,” Mr. Beshear said. He sent a copy of the letter to Mr. Thune, noting his office’s research found that a Senate vacancy occurs “when a senator dies, resigns, or is expelled by a vote of the Senate itself.”
“If you are unwilling to voluntarily show that you still have the capacity to serve, I will insist Leader Thune fully investigate your condition, report to the American people, and begin the process if warranted,” Mr. Beshear wrote to Mr. McConnell.
In a separate letter, he made the same demand directly to Mr. Thune. “If Senator McConnell is unwilling to voluntarily show that he still has the capacity to serve, I will insist that you as the Majority Leader of the Senate fully investigate his condition, report to the American people, and begin the process if warranted,” he wrote.
Mr. Thune cannot unilaterally declare Mr. McConnell’s seat vacant, however. The Constitution allows the Senate to expel a member with the concurrence of two-thirds of senators voting.
Mr. Beshear addressed his letter to Mr. McConnell “under the assumption that he is capable of reading and responding verbally, and not incapacitated by means of consciousness or cognition,” writing that if the senator cannot respond, the letter should be considered “a demand for his Senate staff to be honest and transparent with the people of Kentucky.”
The governor also mentioned CNN commentator Scott Jennings, whom he described as Mr. McConnell’s “protégé,” who said on television July 23 that “truthfully a little transparency on the front here would have saved him a whole lot of grief.”
“Kentuckians are just asking you to be honest,” Mr. Beshear wrote.
He elaborated on his demands Tuesday at a news conference in Louisville. “All I’m asking for, and the people of Kentucky are asking for, is transparency and honesty that Senator McConnell still has the capacity to serve, and I hope he does. I wish him well. I hope his health is improving,” he said.“But if he can have a 17-minute conversation with his protégé, he can call into any of your news stations for three.
He said “rampant speculation across social media and elsewhere” about Mr. McConnell’s condition “could all be fully avoided, and it’s all within Senator McConnell’s power.”
“It’s been six weeks, and we’ve had two formal statements and two pictures. Six weeks away from work. That’s a pretty significant thing,” Mr. Beshear told reporters. “In the end, he doesn’t work for the staff. He doesn’t work for the Senate. He works for the people of Kentucky.”
“If everything’s okay, a short video could have prevented all of it,” he said.
Mr. Thune told NBC News, “I’ve seen that letter, but in any event, I think that’s an issue really that’s between Sen. McConnell and the people of Kentucky.”
Mr. McConnell was hospitalized June 14 after a fall and later moved to a rehabilitation facility, where he remains. Mr. Beshear first requested a health update from Mr. McConnell’s office July 8.
Neither Mr. McConnell’s office nor that of Mr. Thune responded to The Washington Star’s comment requests.
Democratic nominee Charles Booker, a former state legislator, will face Republican nominee Congressman Andy Barr in November’s race to succeed Mr. McConnell.
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