Popular comedian Chelsea Handler, who has previously aroused political controversy for everything from discussing having abortions to roasting MAGA comedians like Tony Hinchcliffe, on Thursday skewered Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for continuing to serve in the Senate even though he appears to be barely alive.
"Chelsea Handler unleashed on Mitch McConnell’s'“return' to public life during her appearance on The View, declaring the 84-year-old Kentucky senator is 'possibly not even alive,' despite his latest appearances," reported The Daily Beast's Eboni Boykin-Patterson on Thursday.
Boykin-Patterson added, "The comedian was asked for her take by The View co-host Sunny Hostin, after McConnell returned to Capitol Hill earlier this month. He had been absent from the public eye for 92 days after being hospitalized in June before he returned to the Senate floor in a wheelchair, where he made minimal remarks and waved at reporters while flanked by his chief of staff."
The journalist then quoted Handler referencing a 1989 dark comedy in which two men drag around a corpse while pretending it is still alive so they can live off of the deceased owner's luxuries for a weekend.
“Was that a return? That’s a return to Saturn, is what that was,” Handler said. “I mean, honestly, I can’t believe—this is obviously like 'Weekend at Bernie’s.' We’re dealing with a person who’s unconscious or possibly not even alive, you know. I mean, they’re propping him, and when his hand went up, I was like, ‘Who is holding his hand up?”
McConnell's apparent health issues, which have included him freezing up during a press conference and mysteriously vanishing for three months after a June hospitalization, are putting his Republican colleagues in an awkward spot when it comes to discussing their former Majority Leader.
"Republicans are literally running away from questions about Mitch McConnell," reported The New Republic's Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling on Thursday. "Kentucky Senator Rand Paul refused to acknowledge RawStory’s Adam Nichols when the digital site’s editor in chief asked about McConnell’s ability to remain in office, rushing into an elevator while he avoided eye contact."
Houghtaling continued, "Mississippi Senator Roger Wicker ran the same playbook, simply muttering, 'Oh man,' while he walked away from Nichols. As the elevator doors closed, Wicker relented and said that McConnell is a 'great guy.' Nebraska Senator Deb Fischer responded—sort of. She glared at Nichols when he inquired about McConnell’s ability to serve out the rest of his term. 'I think he is, yes,' Fischer said."
In September, psychologist Dr. John Garrison argued that the McConnell who recently returned to the Senate seemed to have “absolutely no idea what is going on.”
He continued, “He is unmoving. Just has a thumbs up and they are moving him along fast. This is a lot of what we're seeing from Mitch McConnell: frozen positions, his facial expression unchanging, no responsiveness to the environment around him. I think comprehension-wise, he is not comprehending what is being spoken to him. He does not understand what he is doing.”