New Video Shows Sen. Mitch McConnell Loaded Onto Stretcher, Placed in Ambulance Amid Continuing Health Mystery

WASHINGTON — Newly obtained video shows emergency responders wheeling Sen. Mitch McConnell on a stretcher into an ambulance outside his Washington, D.C., home last month, offering the first visual evidence of the incident that led to the Kentucky Republican's ongoing, weeks-long hospitalization, according to CNN, which verified the footage and spoke with an eyewitness.

A neighbor of McConnell told CNN they opened their door to find commotion outside their home at around 8:30 a.m. on June 14, with two ambulances, a fire truck and Capitol Police officers blocking the entire street. Video the neighbor recorded, shot from a distance, shows emergency responders wheeling a person on a stretcher toward an ambulance. The footage does not show the individual's face, though once the person was placed inside the ambulance, their lower legs appeared covered by an orange blanket while their feet remained visible.

The neighbor said they asked officers on the scene what was happening and were told only that there had been a "medical emergency." When the neighbor specifically asked whether McConnell was the one experiencing the emergency, officers responded that they would block the street "for anybody," according to the account relayed to CNN. The neighbor said they later learned from another eyewitness, who saw the individual's face directly, that the person on the stretcher was McConnell, and that he was not wearing an oxygen mask at the time.

Describing what they saw, the neighbor told CNN, "He's in a stretcher, and he's in some sort like orange foam looking blanket type thing." The neighbor said they noticed McConnell's feet were uncovered and, in a brief glimpse, appeared "not moving." While the neighbor said they personally did not see McConnell's face in the video, they recounted that another person on the block confirmed his identity directly, saying, "One of my neighbors is like, 'Oh yeah, it's Mitch, I saw his face.'"

CNN reported that it corroborated the location shown in the video with public records confirming it as McConnell's residence, and that the footage was shot the same day his office confirmed he had been hospitalized.

The video and eyewitness account add new detail to a set of circumstances that have remained largely undisclosed by McConnell's office since his hospitalization began. Separately, EMS dispatch audio previously obtained and published by an independent journalist indicated that emergency responders were called to McConnell's home for an "unconscious" person experiencing a "cardiac arrest," with a responder heard on the recording saying, "CPR in progress."

Despite the emergency nature of the call, the neighbor who spoke with CNN said the responders on scene did not appear to be working with a heightened sense of urgency. "In a situation where perhaps time is of the essence, there seems to be a little bit more urgency, but there was no urgency here," the neighbor said. The neighbor also noted that when the ambulance eventually left the street, its sirens were not activated.

When McConnell's hospitalization was first announced on June 14, his office issued only a brief statement saying he had been "admitted to the hospital this morning" and was "receiving excellent care." In the weeks since, his team has not disclosed what prompted the hospitalization, nor provided specific details about his diagnosis, treatment or current condition. A spokesperson for McConnell declined to comment on the new video and eyewitness account when approached by CNN.

McConnell's continued absence from the Senate has drawn attention from colleagues and observers alike, even as details about his health remain scarce. Several prominent Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune, have issued public statements in recent weeks confirming they have spoken with McConnell by phone. CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings told CNN's Kasie Hunt on "The Arena" that he spoke with McConnell by phone earlier this week, describing the senator's voice as sounding "strong" and saying McConnell "was feeling OK — obviously well enough to call me on the phone."

McConnell, 84, has represented Kentucky in the Senate since 1985 and led Senate Republicans from 2007 until stepping down from that leadership post in 2025. He has not cast a Senate vote since June 11, and his continued absence has coincided with delays in the Senate Appropriations Committee's work on spending legislation, given that Republicans currently hold a narrow majority in the chamber that shrinks further whenever McConnell is unable to be present for a vote.

McConnell has faced a series of publicized health episodes in recent years. He was hospitalized in March 2023 after falling at a Washington hotel, an incident that kept him away from the Senate floor for several weeks. Later that year, he experienced two separate public episodes in which he stopped speaking mid-sentence during televised news conferences and had to be assisted by colleagues before regaining his composure. He was injured again in December 2024 after tripping outside a Senate Republican lunch, and earlier this year spent more than a week hospitalized after his office attributed the stay to flu-like symptoms.

McConnell announced earlier this year that he would not seek reelection and is set to retire from the Senate at the conclusion of his current term in January. His current hospitalization, now stretching well beyond three weeks, marks the longest known absence from the Senate tied to health concerns during his time in office.

As of this report, McConnell's office has not issued any additional public statement addressing the newly surfaced video, the eyewitness account of the June 14 incident, or providing further detail about his current medical condition or an expected timeline for his return to the Senate. His absence continues to leave Senate Republicans navigating a narrower working majority as they work through the chamber's ongoing legislative agenda.