Susan Collins Defends 84-Year-Old McConnell as Beshear Presses Health Questions
Updated
Updated · The Daily Beast · Aug 1
Susan Collins Defends 84-Year-Old McConnell as Beshear Presses Health Questions
3 articles · Updated · The Daily Beast · Aug 1
Summary
Susan Collins publicly defended Mitch McConnell after his weeks-long Senate absence, saying the 84-year-old former GOP leader deserves "grace" and will return despite a slower recovery tied to childhood polio.
June 14 set off the latest scrutiny: McConnell was hospitalized after a fall and has since faced mounting demands to show he is physically able to keep serving Kentucky in the Senate.
Andy Beshear escalated that pressure in letters to McConnell and Majority Leader John Thune, urging proof of McConnell's capacity to serve or his resignation and asking for an investigation.
Collins called Beshear's push political and "unseemly," joining other Republicans who attacked the Kentucky governor as lawmakers again confront age and health concerns in a Senate whose average age has risen to 63.9.