Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is not dead, although he has not appeared in public in the nearly two weeks since his office released a “proof of life” photograph to dispel death rumors.
This week, however, one columnist published a premature obituary for the long-serving Kentucky senator.
According to Raw Story, columnist Joe Gerth published a critical column about McConnell, looking back on his legacy, even the senator remains alive.
Gerth writes for the Louisville Courier Journal, which is McConnell’s hometown newspaper, as he has Louisville as his primary residence.
Stay up-to-date with the latest news!
Subscribe and start recieving our daily emails.
“My too-early ‘tribute’ to Mitch McConnell” is the headline for Gerth’s column.
Opinion: I’m giving McConnell flowers while he can still smell them | Opinion https://t.co/5530mWh8J0
— Courier Journal (@courierjournal) July 22, 2026
Gerth’s column seemed to be motivated by the recent sudden death of another Republican senator, Lindsey Graham, and the idea that criticism of Graham was often greeted with complaints about attacking the recently deceased.
“That got me thinking about Sen. Mitch McConnell, who was rumored to be dead or on life support or in a coma or whatever and was the odds-on favorite to beat Graham to the gates of hell in the days before Graham’s death,” the columnist wrote. “And, so with McConnell allegedly on the mend, I figured I’d go ahead and tell you what I think about McConnell now — when no one can complain.”
He went on to share what he “really” thinks about the not-yet-departed senator.
“I wish the late Louisvillian, Hunter S. Thompson, were still around to tell the story of McConnell, the former Senate majority leader when he passes from the scene,” Gerth writes, noting that Thompson wrote a famously mean obituary for Richard Nixon when Nixon died in 1994.
Mitch McConnell has been accused of violating one of the Senate’s own rules after disappearing from public view for 39 days while missing dozens of votes.
https://t.co/Qrf9snCMwM— The Daily Beast (@thedailybeast) July 22, 2026
“And McConnell is every bit the detestable figure that Nixon was,” Gerth says. “But unlike Nixon, McConnell never paid for his sins that have damaged our nation’s trust in government, destroyed the country’s ability to have meaningful dialogue and cemented our nation’s politics as an arena in which winning is the only thing that matters.”
While sharing some things he believes McConnell did that were good in his career, Gerth notes that “none of that will matter.” He will be known, instead, for “his cynical and hypocritical manipulation of the U.S. Supreme Court confirmation process,” and his embrace of Donald Trump. Even though Trump notable dislikes him.
Photo courtesy of the Political Tribune media library.
