‘Missing Person’ Posters with Mitch McConnell’s Face Appear Around Washington Several Weeks into Senate Absence

Janey WetzelFri, July 31, 2026 at 1:51 AM UTC

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Mitch McConnellCredit: Drew Angerer/Getty -

Mitch McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 with an unknown illness

The Republican senator’s health condition has remained a mystery, despite many of his peers claiming to have spoken to him at great length

Missing persons posters have now been placed throughout Washington, D.C., describing the 84-year-old as “turtle-like”

A political prankster is roaming the streets of Washington, D.C. — and pulling stunts at Mitch McConnell’s expense.

Fraudulent “missing persons” posters can be seen around the streets of the capital, seemingly poking fun at the Republican senator’s prolonged absence from Congress.

The posters, which are titled “MISSING PERSONS,” also include his description under his photo. It reads: “84 years old. 5’9 Feet. Turtle-like.”

The poster also notes that the politician was last seen on June 11, that he is known for “blocking something in the Senate” and his distinguishing feature is his “tortoise like appearance.” A small section in the corner reads, “If you have any information about his whereabouts, please keep it to yourself. He would.”

The prank was seemingly pulled by the Save America Movement (SAM), a citizen-led organization that focuses on “defending democracy and restoring common sense.” It is an anti-Trump non-profit that targets Republican-controlled House seats and the entire MAGA movement by staging “high-profile public demonstrations” around the nation’s capital.

SAM’s other demonstrations have included launching “Liberty Vans” for ICE monitoring in Los Angeles and partnering with outside organizations to release coordinated media statements supporting Senator Mark Kelly during the “Veteran Solidarity Mobilization.”

The Kentucky senator has undergone numerous health concerns in the past few years. This includes several well-documented public falls and freezing episodes, along with illnesses.

McConnell’s most recent health issue started on June 14, when he was admitted to the hospital for unknown reasons. This hospitalization came four months after his self-admitted, eight-day stay for “flu-like symptoms” in February.

On June 14, his spokesperson, Stephanie Penn, released a statement on his condition and said, “Senator McConnell was admitted to the hospital this morning. He is receiving excellent care.” She did not elaborate on what McConnell had been hospitalized for.

His wife, former transportation secretary Elaine Chao, traveled to China three days after his hospitalization; however, her spokesperson told CNN that “the Senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the US.”

As of July 2, he was still in the hospital, according to a statement released by McConnell’s office on July 2.

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Eight days later, one of McConnell’s neighbors sent CNN a video of the 84-year-old on a stretcher, leaving his house in an ambulance the day of his original June admittance.

McConnell’s office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s previous request for comment and declined to comment on the video when contacted by CNN early that morning.

Prior to the video footage, several emergency services audio recordings were published by multiple outlets that describe an “unconscious” person and “CPR in progress” for a “cardiac arrest” at McConnell’s D.C. address shortly before 9 a.m. local time on June 14.

A number of Republican leaders have spoken out about McConnell’s health. His predecessor for the Majority Leader of the U.S. Senate, John Thune, claimed he spoke to him by phone on July 7. “They had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics including national security,” a spokesperson said.

Senate GOP whip John Barrasso and McConnell also spoke on July 7 for roughly 20 minutes, during which the Kentucky Republican “was fully engaged and is eager to get back to the Senate,” Barrasso’s spokesperson said in a statement on X.

Scott Jennings, a CNN Senior Political Commentator and McConnell’s former aide, went to X on July 7 saying, “spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital.” He also wrote they discussed topics like Iran, Ukraine and situations in Maine. Later, he said that the Senator’s voice “sounded strong.”

By July 12, in a lengthy statement shared with his constituents via email, McConnell wrote that he had been hospitalized for nearly a month due to “mobility challenges” related to his childhood polio diagnosis that resulted in his fall, which rendered him unconscious. He also shared a photo of him and Chao smiling as he sat up in a hospital bed.

Six weeks after the June admittance, seemingly by ambulance, his office issued another statement on July 27 that the lawmaker was “still working hard to get back to [his] full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky,” and that he was still undergoing “intense physical therapy.”

“He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office,” the statement concluded.

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Source: “AOL Breaking”