The former United States Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao returned to American soil this week. She had been away in China. Her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell, lay in a hospital bed since June 14, and her absence bred a quiet storm of rumors on the internet.
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Subscribe Sekarang →A spokesperson for Chao spoke to clear the air in a statement given to The Courier Journal. The representative said the secretary went on a long-planned journey to China to look after the charitable works of her family. According to the statement, Chao met with many people in the country, including the American ambassador. The spokesperson added that the senator's condition did not require her to cut the journey short.
McConnell is 83 years old. He has served seven terms representing the state of Kentucky and spent 18 years leading his party in the Senate. He had already announced he would not seek reelection, choosing instead to finish his term and step away from the chamber.
Chao knows the heavy weight of Washington. She ran the Department of Transportation under Donald Trump and served as Labor secretary under George W. Bush. She has been married to McConnell for many years. On June 17, just days after her husband entered the hospital, the Chinese embassy in Washington released a photograph. It showed Chao sitting beside Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before a large painting of the Great Wall in Beijing.
Based on a report by the television station WLKY, Chao left for China on June 12, two days before the senator was admitted to the hospital. Her staff did not say whether she had spoken to McConnell since she arrived back home. In the wake of the online noise, the senator's youngest daughter, Porter McConnell, deleted her account on the social media platform X.