With McConnell's team failing to provide updates, reports began to swirl that the fall had rendered him brain dead. "A very high-level source told me Mitch McConnell is officially brain dead, and machines are keeping him alive, but he is a vegetable and 'never coming back,'" MAGA reporter Laura Loomer claimed on July 6 via X. Questions also swirled as to why Chao, who served as former George W. Bush Transportation Secretary, traveled to China around the time of her husband's hospitalization and didn't return to be by his side. Senate Majority Leader John Thune claimed he spoke with McConnell after his medical emergency, stating, "He sounded good. However, others, including Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear, called for a "proof of life" call or video after McConnell's office continued to stonewall updates on his condition.