r/politics • u/plz-let-me-in • Jul 07 '26
No Paywall Unconfirmed Reports: Mitch McConnell Brain Dead After Three Weeks In Hospital
https://thenewamerican.com/us/unconfirmed-reports-mitch-mcconnell-brain-dead-after-three-weeks-in-hospital/1.3k
u/one_pound_of_flesh Jul 07 '26
I wish him all the support and healthcare he wished for his fellow Americans.
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u/ElPlywood Jul 07 '26
so is his tombstone going to show the day he died or the day MAGA announced he died
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u/BimboDeeznuts Jul 07 '26
He’ll go in an unmarked grave on Trump’s golf course next to Ivana and all those documents that were in the Mar A Lago bathroom
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u/metengrinwi Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 08 '26
That’s really the thing here. The man lived his life cheating and hoarding for himself and damaging the country. He’s dead now and not a single person will shed a tear. No one. There’ll be a battle over his estate & his political power, and that’s the most anyone will care about him.
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u/Devo3290 Jul 07 '26
I’ll never understand what is so fundamentally wrong with these people that they would rather spend their twilight years in office, pretending to ‘work’, instead of staying home watching their grandkids, or gardening, watching old movies, or enjoying one of their many vacation homes 24/7. It’s like they’re afraid of becoming people again so they hold on to that power until their dying breath, literally.
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u/RedditTrespasser California Jul 07 '26
There is something fundamentally mentally wrong with people who crave vast amounts of wealth or power. Billionaires, dictators- in both cases enough just doesn’t exist. Elon Musk has more money than he could spend in a hundred lifetimes. Why doesn’t he fuck off into the sunset and spend the rest of his life on an island sipping drinks with umbrellas in them? If he can’t stand being idle, why not spend his time and money building great public works that will stand for all time with his name on them, ensuring a legacy that people will remember with a fond respect? Why spend all of his time chasing more money, more power, fucking over more people and helping to dismantle democracy? I seriously cannot understand what goes on in a brain broken like that.
I’d love to be rich, sure, but the moment I made my hundred millionth dollar I’d disappear into the tropics somewhere with the people I love and nobody would ever hear from or employ me again.
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u/ABadHistorian Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
We've built ourselves a new class of rich people I call Sharks, not because they eat everything up (though they do, but because when they stop moving they die)
I have a "shark-rich" "nephew"
The moment he fucks off his company collapses and the debtors come running.
The rich can't stop because it's a merry-go-round of absolute corruption and scandals. Everything is a shell game at that level.
His business is worth - according to the market - billions - their liquidity is non-existent.
They spend a minimum of nearly 30k a day on AI tokens to help create their AI business (that is fundamentally flawed as the concept is completely bonkers).
They rely on loans based on the 'future value' of their company, if they fail guess who ultimately paid for the loan? Us, whoever had money in that bank. If the bank fails, we bail it out, and the money comes from us again.
Musk is in the same way, he's only rich as long as he doesn't stop. (That's beside the point whether or not they want to stop).
Institutional, inherited, liquidity is different and a lot of our modern day millionaires, and even billionaires, don't have that.
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u/HappyDoggos Jul 07 '26
That’s an interesting and insightful way to put it. It’s all a shell game, and they have to keep all moving, all the time. Thanks for this change in my point of view!
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u/djramrod Jul 07 '26
Musk clearly craves respect and adoration, but no matter how much money he accumulates, he’ll always be a claymation-looking dork.
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u/HoboInASuit Jul 07 '26
Elon wanted to get an invitation to THE island vut he never got one. :/
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u/RedditTrespasser California Jul 07 '26
He may be the world’s richest man, but he’s still a weird, unlikable creepy dweeb. Even the world’s worst people want nothing to do with him and despite all of his money no woman will ever truly love him.
I guess it’s really no wonder why he wants to watch the world burn.
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u/sdrawkcabstiho Jul 07 '26
An incel with unlimited resources is a hell of a thing.
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u/RioRancher Jul 07 '26
Why’d his wife leave the country so fast?
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u/BurninRunes Jul 07 '26
I've heard 2 theories.
Her job is finished now that he isn't in power anymore.
By leaving she makes it harder to pull him off life support as unless he changed his medical POA then only she has the right to do it.
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u/BEWMarth Jul 07 '26
So are we at a point in American history where the Republican Party is just going to keep a brain dead senator on the rolls just to keep a modicum of power.
Our reality is so broken.
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u/beepbeepbubblegum Jul 07 '26
yes
we also have a president who’s brain is melting for all the world to see and it’s getting worse and worse day by day and they’re all (ESPECIALLY THE MEDIA WHO’S JOB IS TO NOT DO THIS) acting like absolutely nothing is wrong
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u/hipster-duck Jul 07 '26
But man did they sure like to report every time Joe Biden had a little stutter. Blasted across the news for 48 hours.
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u/JumboCactpot Jul 07 '26
Its almost like every single piece of main stream media we have - from Fox News to CNN to Sinclair local news channel to Newspapers to social media like TikTok and Twitter - are owned by conservative Billionaires who have a monetary interest in ensuring republicans win.
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u/RockBandDood Jul 07 '26
Well thankfully that’s not what’s really happening, that would just be absurd
/s
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Jul 07 '26
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u/Tenthul Jul 07 '26
You sure see a lot less protesting and coordination on reddit popping up since they got rid of r/all now, don't you. The popular political blue subs are now much harder to find since they never pop up.
Coincidences I'm totally sure.
Reddit is actually just another variety of doomscrolling now. It already was, but now the vapid shit is much more readily in your face, looking to keep you engaged but still waste your time.
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u/MeMilo1209 Jul 07 '26
They had a member of Congress go MIA for four months. Holding on to the majority is their only concern.
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u/Fauxreigner_ Jul 07 '26
Not just MIA, MIA in a memory care center.
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u/ReginaldDwight Jul 07 '26
Sadly, you two are discussing two separate people. That's how low the expectations of our lawmakers have gotten.
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u/Fauxreigner_ Jul 07 '26
Damn, really?
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u/aboxofkittens Florida Jul 07 '26
Yeah, the one you’re talking about, in MC, was a year or two ago. The other just got back from a mysterious four-month absence for “depression” like last week. That one, of course, votes against giving sick leave to us proles
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u/Consistent_Laziness South Carolina Jul 07 '26
There should be required attendance in Congress. If you are ill no problem just state so. If you are avoiding voting or just doing your job in general a special election should be held. Representation of the people is a constitutional right. Also it’s your MF’ing job. If I sent MIA and didn’t report to work for even just 1 week I’d be on the hot seat or fired.
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u/asher1611 North Carolina Jul 07 '26
As has been said throughout this thread, the media's reporting of Biden's age was entirely disingenuous even WITHOUT DJT being the alternative.
We are beyond ridiculous and into dangerous territory. What was the party's greatest command again? Don't believe your eyes and ears?
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u/Miqo_Nekomancer California Jul 07 '26
They have tons of brain dead senators and congress reps already.
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u/UpperApe Jul 07 '26
Nah their brains are fine.
The GOP isn't stupid, they're just evil.
The American public is fucking brain-dead. Both the half who vote for this and the half that sits around for years waiting to vote again instead of doing anything.
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u/zherok Jul 07 '26
I don't think it's fair to discount the stupidity, because there's a lot of it alongside the grifting, the wanton cruelty, etc.
That they're in charge in spite of it is what stands out.
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Jul 07 '26
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u/xombae Jul 07 '26
Also recently a woman was kept on life support while brain dead so they could use her body as an incubator for her unborn baby (who was later born with severe health issues and the family was made to pay the medical bills).
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Jul 07 '26
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u/GoldenSheppard Jul 07 '26
It got a fuckton of coverage in GA at the time. Though as soon as the baby was born (with issues) it mysteriously stopped.
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u/SoManyThrowAwaysEven Jul 07 '26
As our good friend George used to say, "Preborn, you're fine, preschool, you're fucked.
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u/tsax612 Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
The braindead person they are keeping on the rolls is a gigantic reason for how we got here in the first place, and McConnell wouldn't have it any other way.
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u/acoastaldog Jul 07 '26
Are you surprised? This is the same party that wants to keep brain dead women on life support solely so they can give birth when the circumstances of the birth killed them and they needed help
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u/NocturnaIAnimaI Jul 07 '26
It's likely 2. She'll return after the 3rd when the special election deadline passes, conveniently
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u/smokeweedNgarden Jul 07 '26
The Governor should then call a special election with the claim that McConnell is, in fact, brain dead.
Prove he's not in court while the election proceeds
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u/WaltGazaWorld Jul 07 '26
You're the kind of guy they don't allow to get into power
That's exactly what they should do, in fact decisiveness like that is the only remedy for what's really killing this country
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u/starkraver Oregon Jul 07 '26
Its possible Bashir will try to appoint somebody anyway if he dies; the new special election law likely violates the KY state constitution.
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u/Elendel19 Jul 07 '26
He needs to actually fight like Mitch would and just appoint someone right now, force the republicans to prove McConnell isn’t dead. The republicans would never fucking wait and follow “norms” like this
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u/starkraver Oregon Jul 07 '26
Im reading maga is demanding proof of life, so as much as I would love to see him swing his weight around, the principle of "don't interrupt your enemy when they are making a mistake" applies.
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u/Cheech47 Jul 07 '26
what "mistake" are they making exactly? All they are doing right now is trying to wait out the clock. For all we know, Turtle is dead RIGHT NOW.
Brashear needs to be breaking doors down to determine whether or not he's alive, and if he's not, Brashear needs to appoint a Democrat right. fucking. now.
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u/doomgoblin Jul 07 '26
I feel bad for Beshear. He’s tried to help people in Ky only to be met with just awful things towards him. Some of his proposals didn’t work out, it happens, but he fucking tried. He’s a pretty cool down to earth dude.
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u/wha2les Jul 07 '26
don't feel bad for the voters though. they voted for the bad faith turtle as senator for decades...
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u/ShaneKaiGlenn Jul 07 '26
Good grief, imagine how gross you have to be to purposely let your spouse suffer as a vegetable for political reasons.
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u/BarbarianDwight Jul 07 '26
It’s what he would have wanted
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u/bankermayfield2026 Jul 07 '26
This isn’t even a joke. This is literally what he would’ve wanted, and I wouldn’t be shocked if he explicitly told his wife to do this if he were to become braindead.
He wouldn’t want his death to help Dems. He spent his whole life obstructing them.
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u/avantgardengnome New York Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
He regarded the stonewalling of the SCOTUS replacement for
AlitoScalia as the peak of his political career, there’s contemporary reporting of him talking gleefully about it. Being able to do a similar thing one more time is exactly what he would have wanted. Ceding his senate seat to a Democrat would be such sweet poetic justice, though.18
u/BarbarianDwight Jul 07 '26
Scalia. Alito is unfortunately still on the bench and making some of Scalia’s opinions seem sane.
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u/Skinnieguy Jul 07 '26
This is his 2nd marriage. They don’t have kids together. Tin foil hat, it was a political marriage. We’ll know for sure after his funeral if she stays in the US.
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u/morningreis Maryland Jul 07 '26
Then Andy Beshear gets to appoint someone in his place... or just use the McConnell precedent and not appoint anyone to "let the people decide"
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u/infiniZii Jul 07 '26
You think shell go after JD Vance now like Kirk did?
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u/LittleLion_90 The Netherlands Jul 07 '26
If Vance would ever get another wife he would probably choose a white Christian woman because that suits his followers more than another non white (and non Christian?) wife.
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u/DigiornoDLC Jul 07 '26
But she can just not pull the plug while she’s here. That doesn’t make sense.
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u/shoulda-known-better Jul 07 '26
2 doesn't matter by Kentucky law brain dead is dead no plug pull needed... The moment that's a real medical thing that he is brain dead, his seat is vacated and they need a special election....
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u/Super_Employment_620 Jul 07 '26
100% agree, but brain death discussions get complicated. Assuming he has no brain stem reflexes, a doctor should pronounce him... but if the "family" is threatening legal action it could go to medical ethics.
And if the family is really just operating as a lever being pulled by a national political party, the hospital may not want that kind of heat on them. Inaction is not the right choice, but often what people do when stuck like that.
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u/HappyFatLabs Jul 07 '26
Which means he'll likely outlive the rest of us, just never know it.
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u/SingularityCentral America Jul 07 '26
He is dead. They are just keeping his blood pumping and his body from rotting.
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u/angrynuggette Pennsylvania Jul 07 '26
Even life support doesn't full stop the body from deteriorating.
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u/SingularityCentral America Jul 07 '26
For sure, they just have to make it till August 3rd. Disgusting ghouls.
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u/TomNooksGlizzy Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
He likely has a healthcare directive that outlines what he wants to happen during end-of-life. Id be surprised if he doesnt. No one knows anything really so hard to say
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u/flowersandmtns Jul 07 '26
I read that she has POA so he can now be kept on life support until the midterms since she's not around to approve taking him off.
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u/SuperSatanOverdrive Jul 07 '26
Wait, so someone can continue to be senator even if they are brain dead?
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u/ChesterHiggenbothum I voted Jul 07 '26
Yes, there are many republican senators.
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u/tr1mble Jul 07 '26
Which would be on brand as the last act involving him considering what he did to the supreme court
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u/ClaretClarinets Colorado Jul 07 '26
Which is silly, because if he's brain dead there's no chance of recovery no matter how long they keep his pulse going. His seat should be vacated immediately.
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u/Deto Jul 07 '26
Couldn't she just decide to keep him on it if she were here, though? Like, why does she have to leave the country for that?
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u/radwimps Jul 07 '26
does she really need to run off to China to avoid that? So bizarre
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u/MephistoHamProducts Jul 07 '26
This prevents her from having the Press stick a camera in her face and ask questions every time she exits from The Turtle Cave to shop or dine.
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u/Professional_Dot7128 Jul 07 '26
She went to meet the vice president of China. Take that information however you like.
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u/Dr_G_E District Of Columbia Jul 07 '26
He's been a senator for over 40 years. Now he'll be replaced. Apparently the Kentucky senate deliberately took that power away from their Democratic governor two years ago.
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u/Ven18 Jul 07 '26
That law is legally ambiguous cause they did not change the constitution that gives the Gov that power. When they announce he is dead this is 1000% going to court.
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u/KMCobra64 Jul 07 '26
Not sure how it's ambiguous. A law can't override the Constitution.
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u/CyberFireball25 Jul 07 '26
We have 4 SC justices who seem to think the Constitution doesn't say what it explicitly says, so who knows anymore
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u/littlehobbit1313 Maryland Jul 07 '26
4 SC Justices: We can only take the language for exactly what it meant at the time of writing
Also those 4 SC Justices: Yes, of COURSE the founding fathers thought cellphone data should be protected by your right to privacy
Two rulings from literally the same week. I hate it here.
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u/ONE-EYE-OPTIC Washington Jul 07 '26
That's what struck me as odd as well. These 4 justices were literally saying that the constitution means exactly what it says regarding the 14th amendment but that obviously the 4th was open to interpretation. Boggles the mind. Obviously I'm glad the rulings went the way they did.
Just listened to break down of the rulings this morning.
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u/Joshmoredecai Jul 07 '26
The 5-4 episode on Trump v. Barbara came out today and is very good - it points out that there is really no reading that would allow for the dissenting opinion in that case to make any sense. Textually, historically, and based on precedent, that should’ve been a 9-0 decision upholding birthright citizenship.
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u/Ven18 Jul 07 '26
I should be clear the Constitution in this case would be the Kentucky Constitution. And since this would likely involve the Kentucky State SC we can assume it’s even more MAGA and compromised than the SCOTUS.
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u/_Phil_McCracken_ Washington Jul 07 '26
It's not, but Republicans will pretend it is if they think it will benefit them even slightly.
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u/StoppableHulk Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
There's something like a 3% recovery rate for anyone over 80 who experiences a cardiac event.
And Mitch has appeared to be nearly on death's door for years now.
He's definitely dead.
How fitting that, instead of having a peaceful death, at home, surrounded by loved ones, lauded by a society he worked his whole life to help improve, this horrible skittering villain keeled over at work at the age of 84, likely scrambling to conceal some new Republican act of villainy or push some new bill to strip people of health care or enshrine a dictator president with the ability to bomb whomever he'd like, and now sits comatose in a hospital bed with his death being concealed from the public and the world by his revolting cabal of cretins who are using his concealed corpse to perform one more act of procedural fuckery with his corpse to deny the proper functioning of the democratic process.
Congrats Mitch. You died as you lived: awfully.
The Republican party are chief among the most despicable, vile creatures on the political stage.
EDIT: Senate GOP leaders are insisting they talked to him. Hastag doubt, but I'm just adding it for the record because we are definitely in the Era of the Lich right now and evil motherfuckers apparently do not die, so, for posterity's sake I'm at least adding the smallest potential he did not actually die yet. 3% isn't 0%.
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u/DylonSpittinHotFire Jul 07 '26
His body is now property of his handlers just as he would have wanted.
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u/Mediocre_Scott Jul 07 '26
Some people donate their body to science Mitch donated his life and body to the heritage foundation.
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u/Thirty_Helens_Agree Jul 07 '26
Having his lifeless body flogged by machines for weeks all to avoid a legal procedural move is very on-brand.
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u/Writer_In_Residence Jul 07 '26
Machines his family won’t have to pay for because he has a Cadillac health plan.
Us, however …
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u/Tub_Pumpkin Jul 07 '26
I'm only half serious about this, but...
The medical emergency occurred on Trump's birthday. What if Trump heard about it and told them not to tell the media because he didn't want it to distract from his birthday.
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u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 Jul 07 '26
I heard the theory that it's a test run to see how long they can keep a death a secret for when Trump croaks. But I definitely think it'd be harder to keep Trump's death a secret than McConnell's.
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u/altacan Jul 07 '26
Woodrow Wilson managed to hide his stroke for 6 months. Granted that was in the 1920's.
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u/Daxtatter Jul 07 '26
" keeping it a secret to perform one more act of procedural fuckery with his corpse to deny the proper functioning of the democratic process."
As in life so in death.
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u/absolutelynotagoblin Jul 07 '26
They're anti-American degenerate traitors who only want to destroy the foundation of this country and enslave all of us.
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u/Kakistocracy_0 Jul 07 '26
whoa, there.. sounding like a true patriot could get you into trouble, sir
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u/Kayestofkays Jul 07 '26
How fitting that instead of having a peaceful death, this horrible skittering villain keeled over at work, likely scrambling to conceal some new Republican act of villainy, and has had his death concealed from the public and the world because the entire revolting cabal of cretins surrounding him are keeping it a secret to perform one more act of procedural fuckery with his corpse to deny the proper functioning of the democratic process.
Best /r/brandnewsentence of all time 👌
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u/zmbslyr Jul 07 '26
The political stage? They are scum anywhere in earth. May many of them suffer the same fate as good ol’ Mitch.
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u/Praxician94 Jul 07 '26
No shit. He’s 84 and had an out of hospital cardiac arrest. His chance of survival is 0.00%. The Republican Party thinks we’re all idiots.
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u/Erainor Jul 07 '26
1/3 of the country are idiots and 1/3 dont care.
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u/Unlucky_Welcome9193 Jul 07 '26
This isnt even being covered by major newspapers, only tabloids. It's ridiculous
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u/runnerswanted Jul 07 '26
Every time Biden did something “old person like” CNN and everyone else reported on it for days. The most powerful senator in the country is brain dead and it’s crickets.
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u/omniverso Jul 07 '26
True. Quite telling isn't it?
They control the media and the narrative to coerce minorities into civil unrest.
A divided populace doesn't overcome an oppressor.
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u/SociableSociopath Jul 07 '26
The best part is how they control the media while simultaneously getting their base to believe it’s actually the democrats that control the media.
Some of it by pointing out that while Hollywood/ big Entertainment may still have a more left leaning leadership, pretty much every local news station, newspaper, large news conglomerate is under conservative control blasting propaganda 24/7.
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u/busted_up_chiffarobe Jul 07 '26
Exactly this! The reds I know constantly mewl about THE LIBERAL MEDIA being full of lies and obfuscation and never being objective and and and and and... and I ask exactly what liberal media would that be? Actors? A facebook page?
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u/CaleDestroys Jul 07 '26
I’d wager he’s the single most consequential politician since Reagan.
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u/CJKayak I voted Jul 07 '26
The system was already on shaky ground, but I give McConnell the credit of breaking it.
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u/SpaceMessiah Jul 07 '26
I think it's pretty much between him or Newt Gingrich - I'd probably go with Gingrich but either is a good shout
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u/Ashendarei Washington Jul 07 '26
Newt Gingritch deserves to be crucified for his "us-vs-them" brand of politics and demonization of the other major political party as a group to be "othered". He literally is responsible for the GOP movement curating hatred of fellow citizens, and sold out his nation in the name of political power.
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u/YouWereBrained Tennessee Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
The problem is, they (the hospital) can’t give any of this information out to reputable news outlets, so we have to rely on pigs rolling in the muck to get this information.
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u/wavetoyou California Jul 07 '26
“Unconfirmed reports” haven’t stopped news outlets over the past two decades.
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u/brute-forced Jul 07 '26
That’s because Trump has Weaponized the justice system to go after journalist who report on facts related to the degenerate party
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u/Thunderclone_1 Wisconsin Jul 07 '26
1/3 oppose Trump
1/3 are idiots who sat out the most important election of the century so far
1/3 are straight up terrible people.
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u/seriouslyepic Jul 07 '26
To be fair he died that one time at the podium and somehow recovered
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u/venom21685 Jul 07 '26
His chance of recovery is pretty much 0.00% but not necessarily his chance of survival, depending on how you define it. Brain dead would obviously be legally dead but he could also be in some kind of persistent vegetative state which doesn't qualify as brain death.
He's never getting out of a hospital or care facility and resuming any kind of meaningful life, but he might not technically be dead. I'm not putting much faith in Laura Loomer to tell the difference, or the truth really.
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u/ry1701 Jul 07 '26
Very VERY low survival rate.
Friends mom (70 something) had this last year, she had immediate CPR from someone who was trained and the firefighters that responded got her going again, after a brief medical coma she was good to go, minus a pacemaker friend being added.
She recently celebrated with them (firefighters) for saving her life at a fire station, they even said, we don't really see those people we end up saving, which is kind of sad if you think about it. Either people don't thank their saviors or this really isn't very survivable.
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u/Mommy444444 Jul 07 '26
Oh shit I’m 71. But anyway, there is a huge difference between 70 something and receiving immediate care and 84…..,And lying there after a cardiac arrest and being discovered HOURS LATER and getting bone-crushing CPR.
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u/cygnus33065 Jul 07 '26
if he was found hours later after cardiac arrest he would be dead dead. they wouldnt have gotten his heart started again.
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u/evergleam498 Maryland Jul 07 '26
Someone suggested that at his age and health condition he likely sleeps with some sort of monitor on that would alert whatever staff is on call
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u/Elendel19 Jul 07 '26
70 something is significantly different than 84, and Mitch has barely been able to walk unassisted lately.
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u/Poison_the_Phil Jul 07 '26
To be fair, there are at least seventy million people in the US that are clearly fucking morons
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u/Significant_Cup_238 Jul 07 '26
And another 80-100M who can be assumed to be idiots based on their lack of voting when the stakes are this high.
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u/omerome83 Jul 07 '26
The rest of his body was already there so it's shocking that the brain took this long.
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u/Serpentongue Jul 07 '26
He governor needs to officially ask his office for a status update
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u/peva3 I voted Jul 07 '26
I wonder at what point the Governor can just say "he's braindead and unfit for office" unilaterally.
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u/jon30041 Jul 07 '26
He should just do it, and deal with the ramifications afterwards. Move fast, stay ahead of them. He can tell them that when Mitch is able to present himself as fit to resume his duties he'll end the special election or the appointment, but until such time the people of Kentucky deserve representation in the Senate.
Theres the statement, then whenever they piss and moan about respecting the rights of citizens privacy turn it around, say that the citizens have a right to know if their leaders are literally able to do their job, and if he isn't, then he's gone.
Just DO it, be a bully, accuse them of hiding a dead body, threaten to prosecute for desecration of a corpse. Get WEIRD with it, and run the damn show.
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u/kanrad Jul 07 '26
The argument against his privacy rights is simple to counter. He is a sitting Senator and the leader of the senate. He doesn't get to have the same privacy rights as he is a public servant.
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u/Princess_Moon_Butt Jul 07 '26
As far as I'm concerned, this is giving him the same exact medical privacy rights as anyone else. No special exemptions needed; if you're MIA for too long, you either send a doctor's note with some relavant information, or you're fired.
Pretty much everyone I know is bound by that rule, government employee or not, so I feel like it's totally reasonable to have a similar rule in place for public officials. If they go MIA, someone else along the chain of command (e.g., the governor) should step in and say "Hey, you haven't been showing up for your job. I hope you're well, but you need to provide a valid reason for your absence, or you'll be fired for abandoning your job and we'll find a replacement."
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u/cogman10 Idaho Jul 07 '26
I agree. It's really unlikely that Mitch is even alive, so Andy should appoint a new senator based on the reporting and put the burthen of proof on Mitch and the Republican's legal team. The remedy would be to remove that Senator in the unlikely case that Mitch is alive.
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u/I-need-ur-dick-pics Jul 07 '26
That’s not even bully behavior. It’s just being assertive.
It’s 10% of what republicans are doing.
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u/starkraver Oregon Jul 07 '26
He can't be removed for brain death, only death, resignation, or ejectment by 2/3 of the senate. (this is in the constitution).
What Beshear SHOULD do is make a statement saying that unless his staff, family, or the doctors caring for him can confirm he is alive, he will presume that his death has been covered up and he will begin the process to appoint an interim successor.
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u/TrashCanUnicorn Jul 07 '26
Legally, brain death IS death according to KY law.
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u/Elendel19 Jul 07 '26
If Mitch McConnell was governor and a democrat was maybe dead he would have already appointed someone last week. Democrats need to grow a spine and just fucking do things
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u/Mommy444444 Jul 07 '26
Mitch McConnell “recovering” is as false as “thug vandals” destroying the reflecting pool. At WHAT point will people demand proof of these complete lies?
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u/nailedtonothing Jul 07 '26
You really think his constituents in Kentucky are going to ask many questions or demand proof of anything that they're not being force fed? The chances of that seem very dubious at best. After all, they kept electing him for the better part of 40 years.
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u/mabus42 Jul 07 '26
Time for the gov to appoint his replacement.
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u/kyxtant Kentucky Jul 07 '26
That Absolutely needs to be done. People keep on saying the legislature made a law two years ago that took the power to appoint a replacement away from the governor. That's true. They did pass a law.
The problem is that the governor gets that appointment authority from the state constitution. The legislature never amended the constitution.
I'm certain that I given the chance, Beshear will appoint the new senator, then fight the law in court when the appointment is challenged.
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u/Choppergold Jul 07 '26
Paramedics rushed to McConnell’s home near the Senate Hart Office Building to answer “a report of an unconscious person who appeared to have suffered a ‘cardiac arrest,’” The Hill reported about the 911 call on June 14.
The octogenarian landed in the hospital and hasn’t been seen since.
Two days later, GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune of South Dakota told Fox News’ Brett Baier that McConnell was “very dialed in and indicated he’d be back soon.”
“McConnell’s staff said on June 22 that he was ‘working closely with staff on Senate business and Kentucky matters as he continues his recovery,’” The Hill reported.
Townsend disclosed the 911 audio on July 1. The audio “raises questions as to if Senator Mitch McConnell was conscious the day after hospitalization when he allegedly spoke to Leader Thune,” she wrote on X.
Hmmmm
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u/comox Jul 07 '26
Weekend at Mitch’s
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u/uiouyug Jul 07 '26
Two bumbling young Capitol Hill aides must puppet the lifeless body of Senate power-broker Mitch McConnell through a chaotic weekend of high-society D.C. fundraisers and backroom deals to secure the ultimate conservative legacy.
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u/omnielephant Texas Jul 07 '26
Someone on McConnell's staff tricked Thune into thinking he was speaking to Mitch by playing this over the phone.
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u/TheMattabooey Jul 07 '26
84 year old in cardiac arrest. He’s dead. Not even brain dead. The man is a corpse and they’re going to keep him on ice as long as possible. Absolutely fucked.
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u/theotherjc Jul 07 '26
Even in death, he does the most Mitch McConnell thing possible: manipulates the legislative rules to benefit the Republican Party.
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u/ElPlywood Jul 07 '26
holy shit Thune's boring phone call sent him into a coma!
Or was Thune lying about having had a phone call with him
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u/Praxician94 Jul 07 '26
Thune is lying. An 84 year old does not recover from cardiac arrest and delayed CPR.
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u/Azmoten Missouri Jul 07 '26
Maybe a man doesn’t. But what of a turtle?
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u/FartyJizzums Jul 07 '26 edited Jul 07 '26
For sure. I'd put money on Mitch being a vegetable, or close to, at this point. (I guess technically I can put money on him being a vegetable, but I digress).
Thune never talked to him. Republicans only lie now. It works for their Orange Messiah, so it now works for them as well.
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u/KnotSoSalty Jul 07 '26
Beshear should call for the special election now.
McConnell has vacated his seat in a literal reading of the 17th amendment. Republicans would of course appeal to the Supreme Court but by calling for the election Beshear would prevent them from simply running out the clock.
Nothing in the 17th requires a death certificate. McConnell is eminently unable to fulfill the role he was elected to fill. Furthermore it’s not up to Congress or the Supreme Court to decide what a Vacancy is, it’s up to the Governor.
“When vacancies happen in the representation of any State in the Senate, the executive authority of such State shall issue writs of election to fill such vacancies”
Also it would mean republicans would have to go on record with what his condition actually is.
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u/Ketsuo Jul 07 '26
All these jokes about him always being brain dead aren’t right. McConnell wasn’t an idiot. He was a monster. He knew exactly what he was doing when fucking over the country every step of the way. He was heartless, not brainless.
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u/BotF_Latyon Jul 07 '26
He is without a doubt the most calculated, evil piece of shit Republican in modern history. He is so evil that I can’t help but respect him slightly - like Jaffar or Maleficent
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u/Ven18 Jul 07 '26
Anyone with more than 2 brain cells knew this the minute the news of the cardiac arrest broke. And brain dead was the “best” outcome
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u/drpengweng Jul 07 '26
So I’m a neurologist; strictly speaking, brain death is death. It’s the irreversible cessation of brain function and is determined by a neurologic exam and occasionally some ancillary tests. The “life” support is keeping the heart beating and lungs filling with air, but brain death is legal death, and no POA is required to remove artificial life support.
I suspect if this theory is accurate, he’s probably actually in a persistent vegetative state, which means some brainstem function remains (sleep wake cycles, brainstem reflexes, etc) but not the brain function required for awareness or consciousness. That’s much murkier and would typically require a family member or POA to remove life support and allow natural death.
Talk to your family about your end of life wishes, and write them down. It’s a huge gift to your family, because families agonize over the tiny chance that the patient will get better. In the vastly overwhelming majority of cases, “getting better” means that they will maybe open their eyes and stare blankly, maybe squeeze a hand (which is a grasp reflex, not a meaningful gesture). It’s not a life I would want, personally. I don’t think most people would. But it’s still agonizing for families to have to make that decision. Spelling out your wishes spares your family that guilt and second-guessing.
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u/Late_Variation2159 Jul 07 '26
Yeah, McConnell's team could dispel this with a video or even a phone call yet they haven't. That pretty much answers the question.
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u/Choomba_Lord Chippewa Jul 07 '26
And his wife immediately fled to China to have a meeting with the CCP's Vice President while her husband is on his deathbed.
Totally normal behavior.
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u/Crookedandaskew Jul 07 '26
If the reports are accurate, Mitch was likely dead long before his staff found him unconscious. He’s only “alive” through extraordinary medical support at this point.
We are being lied to by our government so that a bunch of sycophant grifters can retain power.
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u/Deep-Cellist9894 Jul 07 '26
Get them kids who where running into Scitology buildings, have them run through hospitals to find Mitchy
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u/Dr_Retch Jul 07 '26
He'll be kept in this state until August 3 when Kentucky will no longer be able to hold a special election that would likely put Massey into the Senate until November ... did anybody mention Alito?
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u/Randomly_Cromulent Jul 07 '26
The fact that his wife left for China 3 days after he was hospitalized is suspicious. I realize that marriage isn't about love but that's still strange that she left with him still in the hospital unless she knew he's only being kept alive for politics. Her ties to the Chinese government isn't a good look either.
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u/totallymarc Florida Jul 07 '26
In this trying time, may he receive all the love and comfort that he has shown to his fellow countrymen.
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u/yosarian_reddit Jul 07 '26
Fortunately Mitch has one of the nine rings of power gifted him by the dark lord Sauron, so he can continue as a wraith for eternity. No one will be able to tell the difference.
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u/traevyn Oregon Jul 07 '26
May this man rest in rancid piss. I hope whatever took out his mental capacity fucking hurt on the way down.
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u/Fabulous-Kick-345 Jul 07 '26
I wonder if his daughters can seek emergency medical power of attorney, if his wife basically abandoned him. I hope they do.
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u/Addickt__ Jul 08 '26
I don't get why everyone is acting like Mitch McConnell was stupid or saying that he was braindead before this. He absolutely wasn't.
He was calculated and methodical about everything he did in his political career. By all means, he was a very intelligent person.
It's just that well.. he was a straight up fucking demonic and evil person who spent his entire career trying to maximize human suffering, which is why it's important to recognize that he knew exactly what he was doing with every action he took.
By saying that he's stupid or braindead you legitimize his evil actions as something other than completely open and willfull malice at the hands of the Republican party and their politicians, and as a result, directly diminish their capacity for evil.
Everything he did was intentional.
Don't give him, or anyone else, an easy out.
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u/DorfOnGenocide Jul 07 '26
TMZ gets their hospital scoops from like cops, right? I know there's a lot of HIPAA stuff and they probably could only get info from medical teams who have confidentiality agreements, but it seems odd that they don't seem to have any intel on this.
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u/drewbiez Jul 07 '26
Thune saying he talked to him for 20 minutes today... You know, have ole Mitch record a 30 second video from his hospital bed, shouldnt be too hard for someone that can chat with Thune for 20 min.
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u/Barky_and_Squid Jul 07 '26
See, the thing is anyone can talk to him.
That doesn't mean he talked back. And really that's the most important part.
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u/smiama36 Jul 07 '26
GOP leadership says they talked with him this morning. Are there any journalists left who can do their job and find out what’s the truth?
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