The photo released to settle questions about Mitch McConnell's health is not current, a senior Republican senator said. After weeks of silence from McConnell's office about his hospitalization and absence from the Senate, the 84-year-old posted a photo of himself holding a Sunday newspaper, while claiming a fall had left him 'briefly unconscious.' In the photo, McConnell sits up in a hospital bed beside his wife, former Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, holding the front of Sunday's Washington Post sports section. But Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin told Real America's Voice on Monday evening that 'sources' told him the photo of McConnell was old. 'I just heard from some, some other source that was an older photo, so I really don’t know,' Johnson told host Eric Bolling. 'I haven’t talked to Mitch, um, I sincerely wish his family well. I hope he can recover,' Johnson added. 'Listen—it’s sad to watch people age, no matter who that person is.' Johnson and McConnell have served together for over 16 years and have often been at odds. Johnson in the past has aligned himself with Trump over the former Senate leader.

Johnson backed off the remarks hours later, posting on X that viewers should 'beware of clickbait' and watch the full interview, before wishing McConnell a full recovery. McConnell was admitted to a hospital on the morning of June 14 following a medical emergency at his Washington, DC home. Paramedics responded to a report of an unconscious person believed to have suffered a 'cardiac arrest,' with a medic reporting 'CPR in progress' at the address. The senator was not named on the call, and his office has instead claimed that he had a mild case of pneumonia and had not suffered a stroke or a heart attack.

McConnell said his doctors have told him he cannot return to the Senate floor yet, though he said he is still working with his staff on Kentucky business. McConnell's statement landed less than 24 hours after the sudden death of Senator Lindsey Graham, 71, and days after Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, a Democrat, publicly pressed for information about the McConnell's condition. 

With Graham gone and McConnell absent, Republican leaders are short votes on a floor where the margin was already thin. A clear timeline for when the Kentucky senator will be back on Capitol Hill remains unclear.