GOP Senator Who Suggested Mitch McConnell’s Proof-of-Life Photo Was Faked Takes It Back: ‘Just Discount All That’

Joseph KonigWed, July 15, 2026 at 6:14 PM UTC

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Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., in Chippewa Falls, Wis., on June 5. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a hospital bed in a photo he shared on July 12.Credit: Steven Garcia/Bloomberg/Getty; Mitch McConnell -

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson walked back his speculation that the first photo of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell released amid his hospital stay may have been faked or an older picture reused to trick the public

Johnson initially claimed he had “heard from some other source that was an older photo, so I really don’t know,” but later rescinded the comment

The Wisconsin Republican has long expressed a proclivity for conspiracy theories, including once blaming Sen. John McCain’s vote against repealing Obamacare on brain cancer

Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson walked back his speculation that the first photo of Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell released by his fellow Republican’s office after his weeks-long hospital stay may have been faked or that it was an older picture reused to trick the public.

Johnson, who has expressed a proclivity for conspiracy theories throughout his time in Washington, claimed he had “heard from some other source that was an older photo, so I really don’t know” during a Monday, July 13, appearance on the far-right Real America’s Voice network’s Bolling! with disgraced former Fox News hostEric Bolling.

The remark came as speculation and conspiracy theories about McConnell’s health and the photo — which showed him with his wife, former two-time Cabinet Secretary Elaine Chao, and the sports section of the Sunday, July 12, edition of The Washington Post — ran rampant.

Some commentators, including Bolling, suggested the photo was altered or generated with artificial intelligence.

Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., in a hospital bed alongside his wife, Elaine Chao, in a photo he shared on July 12.Credit: Mitch McConnell

In a report on Monday, July 13, The Washington Post said it requested and received a copy of the original photo file and found “that its metadata appears to show it was taken Sunday.” The paper quoted Hany Farid, a digital forensics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, who said there appeared to be “no evidence that the image is fake.”

Just over an hour after his Real America’s Voice appearance, Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill that “it was a rumor. Just discount it… I have no idea. I just, I heard that. I just heard it. So just assume it’s false,” according to NOTUS.

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On a Tuesday, July 14, appearance on NewsNation, Johnson backpedaled further, claiming he was trying to talk Bolling down from suggesting the photo was AI-generated.

“Well, a TV host was saying it was AI and I just said, well, ‘You know, I’d heard that maybe it wasn’t the most recent photo,’ ” Johnson, 71, explained. “You know, I have no idea. I mean, just discount all that.”

“You know, from my standpoint, I wish Leader McConnell well. I hope he recovers. I hope he returns to the Senate and can help support President Trump’s agenda,” the Wisconsin Republican added.

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Johnson added he hadn’t spoken to McConnell since before his hospitalization.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., and Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., talk as they arrive for a vote in the U.S. Capitol on July 14.Credit: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty

McConnell, 84, was hospitalized on June 14. Until Sunday, he had repeatedly declined through his office to answer questions about his health and had not released any images of his recovery to shut down viral rumors that he was either on life support or already dead.

In a lengthy statement on Sunday, the seven-term senator said that he was hospitalized after he “took a fall” as a result of what he and a doctor quoted in the statement credited to “mobility challenges” from surviving polio as a child.

McConnell insisted that he did not suffer a heart attack, a stroke, a concussion or any broken bones. And he said his doctors determined he had no tumors or hemorrhages.

The statement noted that during his hospitalization, he “developed pneumonia, which responded rapidly to antibiotic treatment” and that his treatment going forward will focus “on physical therapy and strategies to reduce his risk of future falls.”

It noted he has been moved from hospital care to a rehabilitation center.

“You all know how folks of my generation often hesitate to share the vulnerability that comes with growing older. Even in the public eye, I feel that same instinct — I can’t help it,” McConnell’s statement read. “On the advice of my doctors, I won’t be able to return to the Senate floor to vote quite yet. But rest assured that, in the meantime, I’m not taking a break from the Senate business that matters to you.”

McConnell, the longest-serving party leader in U.S. Senate history, announced in February 2025 he would not seek reelection.

Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wisc., and Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., speak at the U.S. Capitol on July 20, 2022.Credit: Jabin Botsford/Pool/Getty

Monday was not the first time Johnson has speculated wildly about his fellow Republicans’ health.

In 2017, Johnson insinuated that then-Arizona Sen. John McCain’s brain tumor “might have factored in” to why he voted against Republicans’ efforts to repeal parts of the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

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