Tuesday, August 25, 2026
Vol. VIII
Est. 2019

The Mind Shield

News · Opinion · Politics · Analysis

Video shows McConnell loaded into ambulance on stretcher.

Video shows McConnell loaded into ambulance on stretcher.
WASHINGTON, DC - JULY 23: Senate Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) answers reporters' questions during a brief news conference outside the Senate chamber at the U.S. Capitol July 23, 2013 in Washington, DC. McConnell did not take any quesitons about the announcement by Tea Party activist Ted Blevin that he will challenge McConnell in the 2014 GOP primary in Kentucky. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images.

A new video obtained by CNN shows Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) being loaded onto an ambulance stretcher on the day he was hospitalized.

The approximately 15-second video was taken by one of McConnell’s neighbors, shows emergency responders wheeling a person on a stretcher toward an ambulance on June 14.

“He’s in a stretcher, and he’s in some sort like orange foam looking blanket type thing,” the neighbor told CNN. The neighbor said they looked at McConnell’s feet, which were uncovered and — in a brief glimpse — were “not moving.”

The neighbor said that while he did not see McConnell’s face, others did.

“One of my neighbors is like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Mitch, I saw his face,’” the neighbor said.

Later that day, a spokesperson for McConnell confirmed he had been taken to the hospital but said he had been “fully engaged with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters.”

McConnell’s office still hasn’t disclosed why he is hospitalized. But an audio recording obtained by independent journalist Desirée Townsend suggests that emergency responders were called to his Washington, DC, home for an “unconscious” person the same day he was hospitalized.

In the audio, the dispatcher was heard saying the call is for a “cardiac arrest,” and a paramedic is heard saying, “CPR in progress.”

Amid growing speculation that McConnell’s health may be substantially worse than his staff has acknowledged, Republican leaders in the Senate released statements claiming to have spoken with the 84-year-old.

“Leader Thune spoke with Sen. McConnell yesterday by phone. They had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” a spokesperson for Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) said.

McConnell also spoke with Senate Republican Whip John Barrasso (Wyo.).

“Senator Barrasso and Senator McConnell had a lengthy conversation early this afternoon. Their phone call lasted roughly 20 minutes. They caught up about the latest news impacting Senate races, the Graham Platner scandal, and the recent Supreme Court ruling on coordinated spending limits,” Kate Noyes, a spokesperson for Barrasso, said.