What To Know
- Sen. Mitch McConnell returned to the Senate on Monday after a 92-day absence following a fall and hospitalization.
- CNN commentator Scott Jennings mocked critics who doubted his updates on McConnell’s condition.te.
- Jennings celebrated McConnell’s return by sharing memes.
CNN conservative commentator Scott Jennings took a moment to gloat on Monday (September 14) following Sen. Mitch McConnell‘s return to the Senate after not being seen in public for 92 days.
McConnell had been the subject of speculation since he was hospitalized on June 14 and went months without a public appearance. In July, the senator’s team sent an email update on his health, along with a photo of McConnell sitting upright in a hospital bed with his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, by his side.
“Last month, I took a fall which landed me in the hospital,” McConnell noted at the time. He explained that he suffered no broken bones and did not suffer a stroke, heart attack, concussion, or hemorrhage. However, he was “briefly unconscious,” taken to a hospital, and developed a “mild case of pneumonia” during his stay.
During McConnell’s absence, Jennings claimed he’d spoken to the senator on the phone several times. He most recently told CNN’s Kasie Hunt that he hadn’t spoken to McConnell “in a couple of weeks” but said the politician was fighting to get back to work on September 14.
“I know he wants to go back to work, and I know he wants to finish his term, and it‘s his intention to do so,” Jennings stated.
Critics, including some of Jennings’ fellow CNN panelists, questioned his claims, including former White House spokesperson Caroline Sunshine, who told him on air that she didn’t believe he had a 20-minute phone call with McConnell.
https://t.co/1myvuFbyU6 pic.twitter.com/aKzApaItJQ
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 14, 2026
Jennings took aim at those doubters on Monday after McConnell’s X account shared an update, revealing that he’d be back on the Senate floor and casting his first vote since he suffered a fall back in June.
The MAGA mouthpiece retweeted McConnell’s post alongside The Office meme of Ryan Howard (B.J. Novak) taking notes. The meme comes from an episode of the NBC comedy where Ryan says he’s “keeping a list of everybody who wrongs me.”
Oh look McConnell voted tonight and was the deciding vote to move ahead with one of Trump’s judicial nominees. https://t.co/XrDp8YOQ62
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) September 14, 2026
Jennings doubled down on his gloating later, tweeting, “Oh look McConnell voted tonight and was the deciding vote to move ahead with one of Trump’s judicial nominees.”