{"id":764048,"date":"2026-07-15T09:09:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:09:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/764048\/"},"modified":"2026-07-15T09:09:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T09:09:13","slug":"washington-post-intern-gets-to-the-bottom-of-mitch-mcconnells-proof-of-life-photo-showing-papers-sports-section","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/764048\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Post intern gets to the bottom of Mitch McConnell\u2019s \u2018proof of life\u2019 photo showing paper\u2019s sports section"},"content":{"rendered":"

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An intern for the Washington Post has gotten to the bottom of Senator Mitch McConnell<\/a>\u2019s so-called proof of life photo<\/a>, showing the newspaper\u2019s sports section. <\/p>\n

Conspiracy theories about the Kentucky Republican\u2019s health have continued to swirl online, fueled by his month-long absence from the public eye. Some even believed the 84-year-old had died and his team was covering it up. <\/p>\n

His office did little to quash the rumors with a statement from McConnell and a photo of him in the hospital alongside his wife, Elaine Chao, released Sunday night. Some even baselessly accused the photo of being fake<\/a>, specifically mentioning the Post\u2019s Sunday sports section that McConnell was holding in the photo. <\/p>\n

But Hany Farid, a digital forensics professor at the University of California at Berkeley, confirmed there is no evidence the image was AI-generated, according to a Tuesday report by Ben Binday, an intern covering politics for the Post.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn intern for the Washington Post has gotten to the bottom of Senator Mitch McConnell\u2019s so-called proof of life photo showing the newspaper\u2019s sports section (Reuters)<\/p>\n

The Post also reviewed a copy of the photo and found that its metadata shows it was taken on Sunday, debunking a claim from a viral social media post that it was taken several years ago. <\/p>\n

The Independent has reached out to McConnell\u2019s office for comment.<\/p>\n

Laura Loomer<\/a>, a right-wing conspiracy theorist and ally to President Donald Trump<\/a>, was among those not convinced by the photo of McConnell, asking why the newspaper\u2019s text looks \u201cAI generated\u201d and calling the image \u201cbulls***.\u201d Last week, she said a \u201chigh-level source close to the White House\u201d told her McConnell was \u201cbrain dead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Farid told the Post that McConnell and Chao\u2019s faces do not look suspicious and that the photo\u2019s lighting is believable. The expert added that what is visible of the newspaper in the photo is consistent with that day\u2019s sports section. <\/p>\n

\"TheThe 84-year-old senator has not been seen in public since June 14 (Getty Images)<\/p>\n

McConnell, who survived polio as a child, explained in his Sunday statement<\/a> that he had taken a fall last month that hospitalized him. <\/p>\n

\u201cMy doctors have confirmed that I didn\u2019t break any bones or suffer a concussion. I didn\u2019t have a heart attack or a stroke. I don\u2019t have any tumors or hemorrhages. But I was briefly unconscious and was taken to the hospital. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhile receiving excellent care over the past several weeks, I\u2019ve also had to deal with a mild case of pneumonia,\u201d McConnell wrote.<\/p>\n

McConnell said he is recovering, noting that he has transitioned from the hospital to a rehabilitation center. Still, he said his doctors advised him not to return to Capitol Hill yet. <\/p>\n

\"AA digital forensics expert confirmed to the Post there is no evidence the image was AI-generated following baseless accusations that it was fake (AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

In the meantime, McConnell said he\u2019s been working with his legislative staff and has been in contact with his fellow senators on issues, including the midterm elections<\/a>. <\/p>\n

McConnell, Kentucky\u2019s longest-serving senator, is not seeking reelection and will retire next year after suffering from several falls and public episodes of freezing up<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In October, McConnell fell in a hallway inside the U.S. Capitol building<\/a> as he was approached by an activist asking him about Immigration and Customs Enforcement activities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re right to expect your representatives to work hard for you,\u201d McConnell said in his Sunday statement. \u201cAnd part of my decision to retire at the end of my term this coming January was being honest about the demands of Senate work. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut I still have unfinished business to complete on your behalf, and I have every intention of finishing the job you elected me to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Monday night, Trump told Newsmax\u2019s Greg Kelly that he didn\u2019t know McConnell\u2019s current condition. <\/p>\n

\u201cI hope he\u2019s going to be fine. I don’t know if he’s fine,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Your support helps us to tell the story From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":764049,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,3,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-764048","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-news","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764048","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=764048"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/764048\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/764049"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=764048"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=764048"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=764048"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}