Doctor explains: Why they're not required to tell us if McConnell is dead

[00:00:00]Mitch McConnell is either already dead or he is medically incapacitated to a degree that his health status will not be reported because it would immediately trigger a special election.

[00:00:13]The crazy part is that it is completely legal for them not to tell us anything even if he is already dead. Let me explain. I'm an MD specializing in internal medicine and geriatrics for the past 18 years treating patients just like Mitch McConnell and sometimes pronouncing their death and completing death certificates. So, let's say Mitch McConnell already died. What's the medical legal timeline for public disclosure of that information?

[00:00:48]The doctors would pronounce death immediately. Within 48 hours, the doctors would be required to complete and sign the medical certification.

[00:00:58]The funeral director has 5 days from the date of death to file that death with the Washington DC Vital Records Department. Here's the crazy part.

[00:01:09]Even if he died, the doctors certified the death, and the funeral director filed the death with the Vital Records Department, the death would only be announced with authorization by his wife, Elaine Chao. If she does not give authorization, his death would remain a closed vital record for 75 years from the date of death.

[00:01:37]During those 75 years, certified copies are limited to authorized people only such as the spouse, children, next of kin, legal representatives, or others who can demonstrate a specific legal or property interest. So, technically and legally, they can hide Mitch McConnell's death for 75 years. However, the concealment would cross clear legal lines if officials continued to submit payroll, exercise authority, make official representations, or obstruct the vacancy process on the knowingly false premise that the senator remained alive. At that stage, the issue would not merely be delayed public disclosure, it would involve falsifying records, conversion of federal funds, obstruction, and fraud.

[00:02:37]Unfortunately, the investigation would come from the DOJ and the FBI, which isn't going to happen under Trump. Another common question, if McConnell is dead, doesn't that mean HIPAA protection ends and the doctors and hospitals are allowed to talk about the case or tell us he has died? No. HIPAA privacy rules continue protecting the deceased person's identifiable medical information for 50 years after the legal date of death.

[00:03:12]That means doctors and the hospital cannot disclose publicly if Mitch McConnell has been declared brain dead or the exact time or cause of death.

[00:03:24]What if he has been declared brain dead, but is still hooked up to the life support machines? All of the same rules apply. They can still hide that information as long as they want, but there is still the same legal risk with him still receiving paychecks, etc. So, we are in a situation where a sitting senator is either incapacitated or dead, and that information is being hidden from the public. McConnell's staff is refusing to answer even basic questions about his condition.

[00:04:00]And now won't even say whether or not they have even talked to him.

[00:04:05]Is it plausible that McConnell is still alive? Yes, it is plausible. He's been in the hospital for 39 days for a fall and mild pneumonia.

[00:04:18]In an 84-year-old, many things can go wrong once in the hospital, including something called nosocomial infections or hospital-acquired infections, which are extremely hard and slow to treat, requiring hospitalizations that can last for weeks or even months. He could also be mostly recovered from whatever illnesses he had and is getting inpatient rehab. But then why not release a video or do an interview as proof of life?

[00:04:52]Here's the important question we're all asking. Should it be the duty of the governor of Kentucky, Andy Beshear, to initiate a special election?

[00:05:03]Beshear could issue an executive proclamation asserting that McConnell's prolonged disappearance, refusal to provide independently verifiable proof of life, and inability to communicate with state officials create a reasonable presumption that the Senate seat is vacant. He could then direct Kentucky Secretary of State and election officials to begin special election preparations.

[00:05:31]It would be a bad idea for Andy Beshear to do this.

[00:05:35]Why would it be a bad idea for Andy Beshear to attempt to force a special election? Two reasons. Number one, in special elections in Kentucky, the Republican Party of Kentucky is responsible for choosing the nominee for the Republican Party, the people don't vote on it. So, the Kentucky Republican Party would simply nominate Andy Barr, who is already the Republican nominee for Senate to fill Mitch McConnell's seat in the November election.

[00:06:08]Furthermore, Epstein warrior Thomas Massie, who would not be chosen by the party as the nominee in a special election, is ineligible to run as an independent in this election cycle, since he already ran as a registered Republican in May and lost the primary to keep his house seat. So, even if Andy Beshear declared a special election by executive proclamation, the final result would be the same. MAGA Republican Andy Barr is the next senator from Kentucky.

[00:06:46]The number two reason it would be a bad idea for Andy Beshear to call a special election is that Trump would claim this action by Democrats is a threat to election security, and he could use it as a reason to postpone the November elections, possibly for years. He'll say repeatedly, "We can't have elections.

[00:07:10]Democrats are breaking the rules. The entire national election system is compromised."

[00:07:16]Trump would love it if Democrats initiated a special election. It's just the weapon he could use to halt our democratic processes, either temporarily or indefinitely.

[00:07:31]So, the final thought is this. It doesn't really matter what has happened or what will happen with Mitch McConnell, and whether or not he's dead, brain dead, or severely sick and on a ventilator barely clinging to life, the end result will be the same.

[00:07:48]What's most alarming is that a government office released this photo as official proof of life. There are serious and legitimate concerns that the image of McConnell and Chao is AI-generated or heavily manipulated.

[00:08:06]Congress must enact legislation making it a felony for any public official, including the president, to knowingly disseminate AI-generated or manipulated media designed to mislead the public.

[00:08:23]And as AI gets better and better, the urgency for this new legislation will become even more imperative.

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