Cenk Uygur is a Turkish-American who is far more Turkish than American. A rabid anti-Semite, to him everything is controlled by the evil Jooooos. A co-creator of The Young Turks, which he co-hosts with fellow anti-Semite Ana Kasparian. But the tweet pictured to the right was inspired by Kentucky’s Democratic Governor, Andy Beshear:
Kentucky Gov. Beshear wants more information on McConnell’s health, hospitalization
By Hannah Pinski | Wednesday, July 8, 2026 | 4:19 PM EDTGov. Andy Beshear is asking Sen. Mitch McConnell to share information surrounding his health condition after being hospitalized nearly three weeks ago.
In a letter sent Tuesday morning to McConnell’s office, Beshear said Kentuckians have grown concerned about McConnell’s health and whether he can continue serving in office. He added that as public officeholders, he and McConnell have “made a commitment to do our best to represent them and always be transparent.”
“As Governor – and a fellow public official who understands the commitment we’ve made to the people we serve – I am requesting the Senator provide an update on his current health status,” Beshear said in a statement. “Allowing speculation to continue in the media is not fair to the Senator or to Kentuckians, and my hope is that this provides him the opportunity to share the information in a transparent manner, direct from the source.
There’s more at the original.
Mr McConnell, as a sitting United States Senator, can be removed from his office prior to the end of his term in only three ways: by death, by his resignation, or by expulsion from the Senate, which would require a vote of 2/3 of the membership of the Senate to accomplish. Neither the Governor nor the General Assembly have any role in removing an incapacitated Senator from office.
Beshear isn’t the first Democrat to ask for more transparency from McConnell’s team. Charles Booker, the Democrat facing off against Republican nominee U.S. Rep. Andy Barr in the race to replace McConnell, has previously said Kentuckians deserve to know “if our senator is alert, conscious, or capable of serving.”
Zach Dembo, Kentucky 6th Congressional District Democratic candidate, also told reporters Tuesday that he shared concerns previously expressed by Beshear and Booker.
As we previously noted, the Governor previously had the authority to appoint a replacement Senator if a Senator left office before his term was up. The General Assembly then changed the law, in 2021, requiring the Governor to appoint a candidate from a list of three provided by the political party of the departed Senator, so that Governor Beshear could not try to steal a Republican-held seat for the Democrats, but state Democrats predicted a legal challenge to that law if Senator McConnell died.
In response to that, the General Assembly took the Governor’s role away completely:
On heels of McConnell news, KY House GOP advances US Senate vacancy election bill
By Austin Horn | March 1, 2024 | 6:47 AM EDT
Less than 24 hours after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-KY, announced he was stepping down from leadership, Kentucky Republicans advanced a bill changing the rules for how a Senator would be replaced if they decide to step down from the office altogether.
House Bill 622 from House GOP Floor Leader Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, would strip the governor’s authority to appoint a replacement U.S. Senator and replace that process with a special election.
Naturally, Governor Beshear vetoed the bill, and just as naturally, the General Assembly overrode it. KRS §118.720 specifies that a special election shall be called by the Governor, and KRS §118.740 specifies that the Governor must give at least 63 days advance notice of the special election, but does not specify how soon after the vacancy occurs that the special election must be held.
An article in The New York Times, “Kentucky Governor Demands Health Update on Mitch McConnell,” is filled with inaccuracies, based on the 2021 law, and not the 2024 change.
As of this writing, there are 116 days remaining before the general election on November 5th. Were Senator McConnell to die today, the Governor could call a special election no earlier than Friday, September 11th, less than two months before the general election. That’s a lot of additional time and expense. And every day past this writing, on Friday, July 10th, reduces that number.