{"id":5173,"date":"2026-07-07T21:35:42","date_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5173"},"modified":"2026-07-07T21:35:42","modified_gmt":"2026-07-07T21:35:42","slug":"mitch-mcconnell-joe-biden-and-the-growing-epidemic-of-politicians-hiding-health-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relocationtimess.com\/?p=5173","title":{"rendered":"Mitch McConnell, Joe Biden and the growing epidemic of politicians hiding health problems"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n There was a national reckoning after the 2024 presidential campaign about federal officials \u2014 Joe Biden and his White House, specifically \u2014 hiding important health information from the public.\n <\/p>

Read more Justice Department reaches another settlement with Trump adviser Michael Flynn<\/a><\/p>\n

\n But the hiding hasn\u2019t stopped. If anything, it appears to be getting worse.\n <\/p>\n

\n Increasingly, some very high-profile public officials seem to have concluded that constituents and the broader public simply aren\u2019t entitled to basic information explaining lengthy absences from their jobs. And their staffs are enabling them.\n <\/p>\n

\n Republican Rep. Tom Kean of New Jersey recently returned to the House after spending more than 100 days away with no explanation at the time, ultimately citing depression. Now, questions are building about the also-mysterious and now-weekslong absence of GOP Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky.\n <\/p>\n

\n The former Senate majority leader has been missing from the chamber since being hospitalized on June 14. But his office has repeatedly declined to say why<\/em> he was hospitalized, including when reached by CNN on Tuesday.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cSenator McConnell appreciates the outpouring of support he\u2019s receiving while he continues his recovery in the hospital,\u201d his office said, reissuing the same statement it first shared last week. \u201cThe senator continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Beyond that, the details are slim. An independent reporter shared EMS audio of a \u201ccardiac arrest\u201d at McConnell\u2019s Washington, DC, home on the day he was hospitalized. The audio cited someone being unconscious.\n <\/p>\n

\n But McConnell\u2019s office hasn\u2019t even verified whether that call involved the 84-year-old, who has dealt with public health episodes including freezing in front of reporters.\n <\/p>\n

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\nSen. Mitch McConnell leaves a weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill, on May 19, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Tom Brenner\/Reuters\/File<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Senate Majority Leader John Thune said on June 15 that he had spoken to McConnell and was \u201chopeful that he\u2019ll be back this week.\u201d But three weeks later, that still hasn\u2019t happened, nor has McConnell\u2019s office explained why.\n <\/p>\n

\n That\u2019s led even some prominent MAGA figures to cry foul and demand more disclosure, while others traffic in conspiracy theories.\n <\/p>\n

\n Apparently some of McConnell\u2019s colleagues are even in the dark. While responding early Tuesday to a critic who wondered why senators weren\u2019t speaking out about what ailed McConnell, GOP Sen. Mike Lee of Utah said that was \u201cbecause we know nothing about his condition.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

\n Thune and Senate Whip John Barrasso issued separate statements via spokespeople on Tuesday that they both spoke with the Kentuckian on the phone this weekand had \u201csubstantive\u201d and \u201clengthy\u201d conversations. Neither addressed his health status.\n <\/p>\n

\n And a McConnell ally, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings,\u202fposted on X on Tuesday that he also spoke with the senator that day about various topics. He didn\u2019t say anything about McConnell\u2019s health, either.\n <\/p>\n

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\nUS Senate Majority Leader John Thune, next to Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso, following their weekly policy lunch on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, on February 25, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Kylie Cooper\/Reuters\/File<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Before Kean and McConnell, there was the case of GOP Rep. Neal Dunn of Florida.\n <\/p>\n

\n While Dunn hadn\u2019t been absent long term, rumors circulated about a serious health condition. Then Trump at a March White House event said Dunn had faced a \u201cterminal\u201d condition and that he would have been \u201cdead by June\u201d before the president intervened to help him get a procedure involving stents.\n <\/p>\n

\n \u201cOK, that wasn\u2019t public,\u201d House Speaker Mike Johnson said at the time, sitting at Trump\u2019s side. \u201cBut yeah, OK. It was grim.\u201d\n <\/p>

Read more Judge quashes Justice Department subpoena for information about 2020 election workers in Georgia<\/a><\/p>\n

\n Dunn acknowledged receiving help from Trump but declined to elaborate on his condition. Like McConnell, he has now been missing from Congress since mid-June, with his office declining to comment to local reporters.\n <\/p>\n

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\nUS Rep. Neal Dunn arrives for the House Republican Conference meeting in the US Capitol on March 4, 2026.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Bill Clark\/CQ-Roll Call, Inc.\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Similarly, we learned in December 2024 that then-Texas GOP Rep. Kay Granger\u2019s monthslong absence before her retirement was largely spent at a local memory care and assisted-living home, dealing with what her son described as dementia \u2014 none of which Granger\u2019s office disclosed.\n <\/p>\n

\n Months before that, it was Biden\u2019s decision to hide his increasing health problems and run for reelection \u2014 as documented extensively by CNN\u2019s Jake Tapper and Axios\u2019 Alex Thompson in their book \u201cOriginal Sin\u201d \u2014 that blew up the 2024 presidential race.\n <\/p>\n

\n Former first lady Jill Biden recently said she worried he was having a stroke during his disastrous debate performance, even though she defended it at the time.\n <\/p>\n

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\nFormer US President Joe Biden looks down as he participates in the first presidential debate of the 2024 elections with Donald Trump at CNN’s studios in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 27, 2024.<\/span>\n<\/div>\n
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/figcaption>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

\n Throughout his time in politics, now-President Donald Trump has been opaque about his own health:\n <\/p>\n

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