A small detail is raising new questions about Sen. Mitch McConnell's (R-KY) extended absence, according to a new report.
The most recent McConnell proof-of-life photo faces fresh scrutiny as sleuths zero in on the outfit of the hospitalized senator's wife, former Trump cabinet member Elaine Chao, according to reporting by The Daily Beast.
The proof-of-life photo taken on July 26 and released the next day shows Chao seated next to a smiling McConnell. Chao is wearing a white button-up shirt with "peach-colored seashells" on it.
However, Chao was photographed wearing the same shirt on July 15 as she left the Washington, D.C., rehabilitation center where McConnell is recovering, per The Daily Beast. Not only is her shirt the same, but the entire outfit looks identical to what appears in the photo.
She has the same "eggshell-white pants," and "her hair also appears to be the same shade and style in each image," The Daily Beast noted.
The photo of Chao leaving the hospital came more than a week before the most recent McConnell proof-of-life photo, though, The Daily Beast added.
The Daily Beast also compared Chao's appearance to photos of her taken around the same time and noticed differences. In a July 29 photo taken of Chao at the Aero Club of D.C., Chao "appeared with fuller-looking hair" that "was noticeably lighter and had a more reddish tint," The Beast reported.
The Daily Beast also shared a post from Jeff Yang, a family friend of Chao. Yang wrote that he found it "implausible" that Chao would be wearing the white button-up seen in the July 26 photo because it was a $12 shirt made by Chico's. "SHE WOULD RATHER DIE."