Newly surfaced footage appears to show former Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell being placed into an ambulance after a medical emergency at his Capitol Hill residence last month.
The video, recorded by one of McConnell’s neighbors and published Friday by CNN, shows D.C. Fire and EMS crews moving the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican on a stretcher on the morning of June 14.
McConnell’s face cannot be seen in the footage. His lower legs appear to be covered with an orange blanket, while his bare feet are visible. The neighbor told CNN that another witness said McConnell did not appear to be wearing an oxygen mask as he was taken to a nearby hospital.
“One of my neighbors is like, ‘Oh yeah, it’s Mitch, I saw his face,’” the resident, who was not identified, told the network.
Earlier dispatch audio indicated that McConnell had been found “unconscious” at his home and that emergency responders performed CPR. The neighbor who filmed the scene told CNN that the paramedics did not appear alarmed or rushed as they transported him.
“In a situation where perhaps time is of the essence, there seems to be a little bit more urgency, but there was no urgency here,” the neighbor said.
McConnell’s hospitalization has fueled speculation about his condition, including unverified claims from some far-right commentators that the longtime senator was left “brain dead” after the episode.
Senate Republican leadership and McConnell’s office have insisted that he is on the mend and keeping in touch with his colleagues about the issues of the day.
Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) issued a statement earlier this week saying that he and McConnell spoke by phone Monday and shared “a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security.”
Majority Whip John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) put out a similar comment, saying the two had a phone call that lasted “roughly 20 minutes” and that McConnell was “fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate.”
CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings, a former McConnell adviser, said Tuesday that his former boss had called him that day and “sounded strong.”
McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in the history of the Senate, headed the GOP conference for 18 years before stepping down in January 2025. He was last seen at the Capitol June 4.
The senator suffered freeze-ups in public — as well as falls, one of which left him concussed and with a cracked rib in early 2023 — before announcing in February 2025 that he would not seek re-election this November.
McConnell was briefly hospitalized this past February and treated for flu-like symptoms. Since then, he’d often been seen on Capitol Hill being pushed around in a wheelchair.
Rep. Andy Barr (R-Ky.) won a GOP primary election earlier this year to replace McConnell in a state that went for Trump in 2024 by more than 30 percentage points.
McConnell is the third-oldest serving senator, trailing Senate president pro tempore Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), 92, and fellow 84-year-old Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).
