McConnell says he was hospitalized due to a fall and contracted pneumonia

Sen. Mitch McConnell said Sunday that his hospitalization last month was caused by a fall, providing the first detailed update about the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican’s health after weeks of silence and growing questions about his condition.

McConnell said he wasn’t healthy enough yet to return to the Senate and also disclosed that he battled “a mild case of pneumonia” while hospitalized.

In a statement accompanied by a photo of McConnell smiling beside his wife, Elaine Chao, the senator said, “My doctors have confirmed that I didn’t break any bones or suffer a concussion.”

He said, “I didn’t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don’t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital.”

McConnell said he had undergone a battery of tests as doctors work to determine what caused the fall. He said he recently moved from the hospital to a rehabilitation center.

McConnell also acknowledged the unusual lack of detail from his office since he was hospitalized June 14, saying people of his generation often hesitate to share “the vulnerability that comes with growing older.”

“Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct - I can’t help it,” McConnell said.

McConnell spent 18 years as the Senate Republican leader before stepping down last year. He remained in the chamber as a rank-and-file senator to finish the final two years of his term, which ends in January.

The statement Sunday marked an attempt to answer intensifying speculation about McConnell’s condition, which had grown as his office refused to explain what caused his hospitalization and provided only limited updates that he was receiving care.

McConnell has not cast a vote in the Senate since June 11 and had not been seen in public since his June 14 hospitalization, though several McConnell allies said last week that they’d spoken with him over the phone.

EMS dispatch audio from the morning of June 14 suggested that medical personnel attended to an unconscious person in cardiac arrest at McConnell’s home, though McConnell said Sunday that he did not suffer a heart attack.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-South Dakota) and Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyoming) - McConnell’s former top two deputies while he was Senate minority leader - said last week that they spoke with McConnell. Scott Jennings, a longtime McConnell ally, also said on social media that he had talked with the senator. None of the accounts, though, included McConnell himself speaking publicly until his statement Sunday night.

The silence around McConnell’s condition had prompted rumors and theories among several right-wing influencers, many of whom spread unverified claims that the senator is incapacitated and accused Republican leaders of covering up his condition. Trump ally and far-right activist Laura Loomer alleged, without evidence, that McConnell is in a “vegetative state.”

Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) also replied to a Monday post from a conservative influencer claiming that senators are “ALL in” on a cover-up by saying that many senators “know nothing about his condition,” fueling additional speculation.

McConnell’s office has been largely quiet on the matter since he was first hospitalized, not providing much information on what sent McConnell to the hospital or updates on his current health.

On June 22, eight days after his initial hospitalization, McConnell’s office said in a short statement that he would not be voting that week “as he continues his recovery.”

A July 2 statement, the only other one provided by his office in recent weeks, provided little new information but said McConnell was still in the hospital. He “continues to improve,” his office said, and “is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters.”

Since then, McConnell’s office has directed any requests for comment to the July 2 statement.

In the wake of Sen. Lindsey Graham’s death this weekend and McConnell’s absence, Senate Republicans are governing with a 51-to-47 majority , giving them less margin for error.

The Senate passed a resolution last month 50-48 to block President Donald Trump from striking Iran again after a handful of Republicans broke ranks and voted with Democrats. Sen. David McCormick (R-Pennsylvania) and McConnell missed the vote; if both of them had been there, it would have failed.

McConnell has served in the Senate since 1985 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 to 2025, becoming one of the most visible proponents of Trump’s legislative agenda during his first term before becoming more willing to oppose the president in recent years.

Rep. Andy Barr (Kentucky) won the Republican primary to succeed McConnell in May and is heavily favored in deep-red Kentucky .

McConnell has also faced repeated health issues in recent years. He had polio as a child and has acknowledged difficulty climbing stairs, and was hospitalized in March 2023 with a concussion and broken ribs after falling. He then spent six weeks away from the Senate while recovering.

In July and August 2023, McConnell twice froze midsentence and needed assistance while speaking with reporters. In December 2024, he suffered a sprained wrist and a minor cut on his face after a trip.

McConnell fell on the stairs exiting the Senate chamber in February 2025 and was later seen using a wheelchair. He fell again in October 2025. And most recently, he spent more than a week in the hospital in February with flulike symptoms, his office said.

McConnell referenced his childhood polio in his statement Sunday, saying it impaired his mobility in ways that “haven’t exactly gotten easier to manage with age.”

His decision not to run for reelection was influenced by the demands of serving in the Senate, he added, though he suggested he did not plan to leave office before the end of his term.

“I still have unfinished business to complete on your behalf,” he said in the statement. “And I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do.”