Late-night host Jimmy Kimmel briefly stepped out of summer vacation on Sunday to needle Sen. Mitch McConnell over the long-awaited proof-of-life photo the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican's office finally released after weeks of silence.
McConnell's office put out the image and a written statement Sunday, nearly a month after the senator was rushed to the hospital on June 14 following a medical emergency at his Washington, D.C., home. The photo shows him sitting up beside his wife, former Trump Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, holding a copy of Sunday's Washington Post.
McConnell said he briefly lost consciousness after a fall and had also been treated for a mild case of pneumonia. He insisted he had not suffered a stroke, a heart attack, a concussion, or any broken bones, and has since been moved to a rehabilitation center.
"I can assure you that I've been a good patient," the statement read. "At my age, I tend to do what my doctors tell me to do."
The proof-of-life photo, however, drew immediate skepticism, coming after weeks of online speculation about whether McConnell was even alive.
It landed roughly a day after news broke that fellow Senate Republican Lindsey Graham had died Saturday night from what his office called "a brief and sudden illness."
Kimmel, who has handed the desk to rotating stars including Tiffany Haddish and Rosie O'Donnell and isn't due back until after Labor Day, pounced. On Instagram, he posted a photoshopped version of the McConnell image with his own head swapped onto the senator's body, with Chao still in the frame.
"For those who've been asking, I'm feeling great," Kimmel wrote on Instagram.
The post drew a quick response from Kimmel's celebrity circle. Actor Henry Winkler commented, "DIDNT Ask BUT soooo glad to know !! Actually didn't know to ask." Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) piled on with a string of laughing emojis and wrote, "you NEVER miss!"
The swipe comes despite a sustained White House campaign against the comedian. President Donald Trump has repeatedly demanded that ABC fire Kimmel, and in an April post on Truth Social called him "seriously unfunny" and wrote, "People are angry. It better be soon!!!"