AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) called out the ’20-minute’ phone conversations Republicans have held with Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) and said those calls should be taken publicly.
McConnell, 84, was reportedly transported to the hospital via ambulance on June 14 after paramedics arrived at his home to assist someone unconscious from cardiac arrest.
While McConnell released a statement on Sunday in which he claims he was hospitalized due to a fall that rendered him “briefly unconscious,” he said he did not break any bones, have a concussion, tumors, hemorrhages, nor endured a heart attack or stroke. He also included a photograph from a hospital bed with his wife Elaine Chao sitting beside him. Some social media users and members of the press have questioned the photo’s authenticity.
Since McConnell’s hospitalization, a striking number of senior Republican figures and pundits have claimed they spoke to McConnell in nearly 20-minute phone calls.
Politico reported that Senate Majority Leader John Thune and Senate Majority Whip John Barrasso also spoke with McConnell for a similar, nearly 20-minute stretch.
Amid all the 20-minute call claims, Massie took to X to crack a joke: “I spoke to McConnell for about 20 minutes this morning. He said we should end the war with Iran, quit giving aid to Israel, stop spying on Americans without a warrant, and he’s really sorry about how my primary turned out.”
He continued the joke on Monday when Congressional reporter Pablo Manríquez asked him if he was convinced by McConnell’s photo.
“Well, you know I had a 20-minute conversation, nearly 20 minutes, with Senator McConnell,” Massie said. “And he said we should stop spying on Americans, quit bankrupting the country, and stop starting these new wars. And he expressed his sadness that I lost my primary.
Massie pointed out the coincidence of this plethora of timed conversations with McConnell.
“But it appears that a lot of people had those 20-minute conversations,” he said. “We just need to start having them publicly.”
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