Amid his prolonged absence from the U.S. Senate after he was hospitalized last month, Kentucky Republican U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell said he will not attend the Fancy Farm Picnic this weekend.
McConnell’s office shared a statement from the 84-year-old senator Monday, along with a new photo of him and his wife, former Secretary of Labor and Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, taken on Sunday.
“I’m still working hard to get back to my full schedule of work in the Senate and in Kentucky, keeping up with intense physical therapy per my doctors’ orders. Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to make it to Fancy Farm, Kentucky this Saturday,” McConnell said in a statement.
The annual church fundraiser in Graves County has become a longstanding Kentucky tradition for elected officials and campaigning hopefuls. McConnell has regularly attended the event since his 1984 election.
Republican and Democratic candidates, including Senate candidates Republican U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and former Democratic state Rep. Charles Booker, have said they will attend the picnic Saturday.
McConnell said he appreciated the “continued well wishes, and I’m looking forward to getting back to the Senate and to Kentucky soon.” Monday morning, the Lantern had asked spokespeople for McConnell if he would attend the picnic and when he would return to the Senate.
“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. “When I first attended 42 years ago, Fancy Farm was a pretty lonely place to be a Republican. But, my, how times have changed. Today, western Kentucky is a conservative Republican sea of red. So 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.”
The Office of the Attending Physician said the senator “continues his recovery from a fall at home in June.”
“OAP physicians visit with the Senator every day, discussing all aspects of his rehabilitation care,” the statement said. “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. His bout with childhood polio continues to be a significant factor in his mobility. He is not yet medically cleared to leave the rehab facility and return to the office.”
Earlier this month, McConnell released a photo of himself and Chao and said he was moving from hospital to “a rehabilitation center where I’ll keep regaining my strength.”
Kentucky’s Democratic Gov. Andy Beshear, who also isn’t attending the picnic this year, has faced many calls nationally to declare McConnell’s seat vacant. However, legal experts have previously told the Lantern Beshear has no authority to take any action on McConnell’s seat until the senator has resigned or died.
This article is republished under a Creative Commons license from Kentucky Lantern, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Kentucky Lantern maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jamie Lucke for questions: info@kentuckylantern.com. Follow Kentucky Lantern on Facebook and Twitter.
McKenna Horsley covers state politics for the Kentucky Lantern. She previously worked for newspapers in Huntington, West Virginia, and Frankfort, Kentucky. She is from northeastern Kentucky.
