US Senator Mitch McConnell was released from the hospital on Monday following a fall but had not been cleared to return to work in the Senate, according to a statement published on his website.
The statement from the Office of the Attending Physician (OAP) said that McConnell is “not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
The OAP explained that “since his discharge from hospital care, he has maintained a strenuous course of physical therapy and rehabilitation, including multiple sessions a day designed to rebuild strength and reduce the risk of future falls.”
The update, which is McConnell’s second statement since his fall, comes shortly before his home state’s annual Fancy Farm picnic.
Fancy Farm typically features speeches from politicians throughout the state. “There’s no place I’d rather be on the first Saturday in August than with the good people of western Kentucky, feasting on pork and mutton,” McConnell said.
Senator hospitalized after a fall
McConnell was admitted to the hospital in June following a fall. He had polio as a child, which the OAP said is something that “continues to be a significant factor in his mobility.”
In his initial statement on July 13th, McConnell said he would not rejoin the Senate when it returned to work because he was recovering from a fall that had left him briefly unconscious and pneumonia.
While hospitalized, he developed pneumonia and was treated with antibiotics, according to a separate statement that McConnell’s office attributed to the attending physician, whose identity was undisclosed.
Kentucky a sea of Republican red
The senator explained the significance of the Fancy Farm picnic, saying that over the last 42 years that he has attended the picnic, there has been a significant demographic shift.
“When I first attended forty-two years ago, Fancy Farm was a pretty lonely place to be a Republican. But, my, how times have changed.”
He said western Kentucky has become a sea of Republican red, adding that “I hate that I’ll miss the fun this year, but I’m sending my best wishes to the St. Jerome community for a successful picnic.”
“As always, I appreciate all of your continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon,” McConnell concluded.
