{"id":5187,"date":"2026-07-13T17:12:43","date_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:12:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5187"},"modified":"2026-07-13T17:12:43","modified_gmt":"2026-07-13T12:12:43","slug":"laura-loomer-claims-mcconnells-hospital-photo-looks-fake","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/?p=5187","title":{"rendered":"Laura Loomer Claims McConnell&#8217;s Hospital Photo Looks Fake"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script>\r\n  atOptions = {\r\n    'key' : '644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6',\r\n    'format' : 'iframe',\r\n    'height' : 90,\r\n    'width' : 728,\r\n    'params' : {}\r\n  };\r\n<\/script>\r\n<script src=\"https:\/\/www.highperformanceformat.com\/644b717812d811d6a1c1fc5b6ccd6fa6\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"post-body\">\n<div id=\"attachment_5741938\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5741938\" class=\"size-large wp-image-5741938\" src=\"https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-1200x675.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" srcset=\"https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-1200x675.jpg 1200w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-288x162.jpg 288w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408-432x243.jpg 432w, https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5741938\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Chris Szagola | AP)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>MAGA activist <strong>Laura Loomer<\/strong> doubled down on her skepticism about Senator <strong>Mitch McConnell\u2019s<\/strong> (R-KY) health status on Sunday, claiming the Republican\u2019s photo update from hospital is \u201csuch bullsh*t\u201d and put out by \u201cliars\u201d on his staff.<\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, McConnell\u2019s office <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/just-in-sen-mitch-mcconnell-shares-health-update-with-new-hospital-photo\/\">released<\/a> a photograph showing the senator in a hospital bed alongside his wife, former Transportation Secretary <strong>Elaine Chao<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>Accompanying the image was a lengthy statement in which McConnell reassured Kentuckians that he was recovering, saying he had been hospitalized after he was found \u201cbriefly unconscious\u201d and had also been treated for a \u201cmild\u201d case of pneumonia.<\/p>\n<p>Loomer lashed out <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LauraLoomer\/status\/2076426491781673319\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">on X<\/a>, calling the post \u201cbullsh*t\u201d and claiming that the newspaper McConnell was holding looked \u201cAI generated\u201d:<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed_container\" id=\"5db5487a69db0cd97f2c03a672be1d6f\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Why does the text on the newspaper McConnell\u2019s staff claim he\u2019s holding look AI generated? <\/p>\n<p>The text is blurry and the tag on his shirt is blurred. <\/p>\n<p>Also, if he\u2019s in the hospital, why is there no IV connected to him to monitor his health? <\/p>\n<p>This is such bullshit. His staff are\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Zy45jeIefB\">pic.twitter.com\/Zy45jeIefB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LauraLoomer\/status\/2076426491781673319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>The MAGA activist\u2019s questioning of the post was met with immediate pushback online, including a community note on the post confirming the newspaper in the senator\u2019s hand was \u201ctoday\u2019s <em>Washington Post<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other users responded by posting images of their own copies of <em>The Post<\/em> to further prove the newspaper appeared authentic.<\/p>\n<p>Still, the confusion was further added when X\u2019s AI bot Grok was asked by users if the image was real. At first, Grok replied: \u201cYes, it\u2019s AI-generated and fake.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_5741934\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5741934\" class=\"size-full wp-image-5741934\" src=\"https:\/\/am12.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11-56-41.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"808\" height=\"310\" srcset=\"https:\/\/am11.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11-56-41.jpg 808w, https:\/\/am11.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11-56-41-300x115.jpg 300w, https:\/\/am11.mediaite.com\/med\/cnt\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-13-at-11-56-41-768x295.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 808px) 100vw, 808px\"\/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5741934\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">(Screengrab via X)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>The bot appeared to be referring to an earlier fake image showing McConnell hooked up to life-support equipment. Grok later corrected its response, clarifying that McConnell\u2019s image alongside his wife was \u201cnot reported as AI-generated.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Loomer, however, continued to maintain that the update seemed falsified:<\/p>\n<div class=\"embed_container\" id=\"7ff5cd9790ab3e1604458a5513e4cce9\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Mitch McConnell\u2019s staff appear to have used an AI altered photo. <\/p>\n<p>They are never going to recover from this.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LauraLoomer\/status\/2076468884828254486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 13, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<p>Last week Loomer had been central to pushing claims that the senator was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.snopes.com\/news\/2026\/07\/07\/mitch-mcconnell-brain-dead-rumor\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u201cbrain dead\u201d<\/a> in the past week as speculation swirled about his health. McConnell was taken to the hospital on June 14, with his office offering little information in public statements.<\/p>\n<p>Her claims at the time ran contrary to those of top Republican lawmakers and CNN\u2019s conservative pundit <strong>Scott Jennings<\/strong>, a former aide to McConnell, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/media\/news\/new-scott-jennings-shuts-down-mitch-mcconnell-rumors-details-lengthy-phone-call\/\">who said last week<\/a> they\u2019d spoken with the senator by phone and that he was recovering.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>New: The Mediaite One-Sheet &#8220;Newsletter of Newsletters&#8221;<\/strong><br \/>Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/subscribe\">Subscribe now!<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n!function(f,b,e,v,n,t,s){if(f.fbq)return;n=f.fbq=function(){n.callMethod?\nn.callMethod.apply(n,arguments):n.queue.push(arguments)};if(!f._fbq)f._fbq=n;\nn.push=n;n.loaded=!0;n.version='2.0';n.queue=[];t=b.createElement(e);t.async=!0;\nt.src=v;s=b.getElementsByTagName(e)[0];s.parentNode.insertBefore(t,s)}(window,\ndocument,'script','https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/fbevents.js');\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async=\"async\" data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"https:\/\/pl30214220.effectivecpmnetwork.com\/9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\/invoke.js\"><\/script>\r\n<div id=\"container-9ab3d4df8a7e1a6171e16ddbf732cc19\"><\/div>\r\n<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Chris Szagola | AP) MAGA activist Laura Loomer doubled down on her skepticism about Senator Mitch McConnell\u2019s (R-KY) health status on Sunday, claiming the Republican\u2019s photo update from hospital is \u201csuch bullsh*t\u201d and put out by \u201cliars\u201d on his staff. On Sunday, McConnell\u2019s office released a photograph showing the senator in a hospital bed alongside&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5188,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Untitled-design-2026-07-13T120705-408.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-newsweek-trending"],"brizy_media":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5187","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5187"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5187\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5188"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5187"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5187"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usnews-14267fa.ingress-comporellon.ewp.live\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5187"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}