Elaine Chao, the former U. S.
Secretary of Labor and wife of Senator Mitch McConnell, was seen leaving the rehabilitation center where the Kentucky Republican is recovering from a fall last month.
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Photographs obtained by TMZ show Chao making a low-key exit from the facility on Tuesday, wearing a face mask and keeping her head down as she got into a waiting vehicle.
This is the first time Chao has been spotted in public since McConnell was hospitalized on June 14 after a fall at his home left him briefly unconscious.
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Her appearance comes amid intense online speculation about McConnell's condition, fueled by a proof-of-life photo released by his office over the weekend.
The image, showing the 84-year-old senator smiling in a geriatric chair beside Chao while holding a newspaper, was meant to quiet rumors but instead sparked claims it was AI-generated or manipulated.
Critics including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene have called McConnell a “vegetable” and labeled Chao a “Communist Spy,” while comedian Jimmy Kimmel mocked the frenzy with a parody.
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Podcast hosts Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway also weighed in, with Galloway calling the photo “fake” and Swisher deeming it “sus.”
Chao's public sighting does not clarify McConnell's current health status, but it marks the first time she has been seen amid the controversy.
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The question remains: when will McConnell himself be seen leaving the rehab facility?
