FACT-CHECK: Mitch McConnell’s Hands and Mouth Alarmingly Black and Blue?

Time for a Fact-Check!

I saw this photo swirling around Twitter today and it definitely caught my attention:

Look at his hands and lips…zoom in what the hell?? pic.twitter.com/QYKnELM0S1

— Poppi Starr (@popstarr65) February 13, 2024

Screenshot:

Wow, that’s really bad!

Mitch McConnell’s hands and mouth look horrible!

Black & blue would be an understatement.

But….is it true?

Is it real?

Well…yes!  Yes, this is an authentic photo.  The only catch?  It’s not “new” it’s from 2020.

From Slate (in 2020):

The photos began spreading on Twitter later that day. Unlike most photos of blue hands, they were not doctored.

McConnell’s press secretary has not responded to two requests for comment about whether the longtime Republican leader has suffered any health issue. But Politico congressional reporter John Bresnahan, who specializes in haranguing old senators about their mortality, asked McConnell on Thursday what’s going on. The conversation (via the Capitol Hill press pool) went as follows:

Bresnahan: Everyone’s been asking about your hands. Is there something going on?
McConnell: I’ve been worried about your health, Bres. How are you feeling?
Bresnahan: I’m feeling OK.
McConnell: Good for you.
Bresnahan: But I’m serious, is there anything going on we should know about?
McConnell: Of course not.
McConnell later reiterated to CNN’s Ted Barrett that he has “no concerns,” but wouldn’t answer when asked whether he’s being treated by a doctor. (It is, generally, a miracle whenever McConnell utters a word, or even looks at you, or even gives any indication that there’s another human being in his presence, when you ask him a question in the hallway.)

Another view here:

Here’s more on the 2020 story from the NY Post:

What’s wrong with Mitch McConnell’s hands? Probably nothing more than the thinning skin — and easy bruising — that comes with old age.

Dermatologists say the 78-year-old Senate majority leader’s black-and-blue bruises and bandaged hands are likely a common condition called senile purpura.

“Your skin just naturally becomes more fragile as you age,” Dr. Doris Day, a Manhattan-based dermatologist, told The Post.

“I think it’s just a bruise — a solid good bruise,” she said.

Older skin loses its elasticity and its cushioning layer of collagen, doctors say.

That naturally occurring fragility of the skin can also be complicated by prior chronic sun exposure.

And if you’re taking any kind of blood thinner, even baby aspirin, bruising is even more likely.

“It’s really just from anything that creates some trauma that causes blood to leak out from the vessels under the skin,” Day said.

“It’s not a problem if it goes away. If you do bruise and the bruise does not go away, then you need to see a hematologist,” or blood doctor, she said.

“There’s not really much you can do,” agreed Dr. Jeremy Fenton, dermatologist at Schweiger Dermatology Group in Manhattan and Long Beach.

“You can try some things, topical treatments that can build collagen and thicken the skin, such as retinoids, lactic acid lotions, but it’s going to be an uphill battle.”

Fenton also agreed that the condition appears to be senile purpura — and he wondered further whether McConnell’s bruises resulted from a recent attempt to draw blood.

“If someone was trying to draw blood from him — especially if someone is on blood thinners — that can cause significant bruising,” he noted.

“But why does he have the bruising on his lips too? That wouldn’t be explained by someone drawing blood.”

Even Snopes rated the photo as TRUE:

On Oct. 21, 2020, social media users began circulating an image said to show the hands of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, with those appendages looking unusually — and alarmingly — dark and mottled:

This image is indeed an Associated Press-distributed photograph of the 78-year-old U.S. senator from Kentucky, taken on Oct. 20 and captioned as follows:

“Hands of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell are seen as he talks to the media after the Republican policy luncheon on Capitol Hill in Washington on October 20, 2020. Photo by Yuri Gripas/Abaca/Sipa USA”

Why McConnell’s hands exhibited purplish bruises and bandages — a conspicuous change from just a week earlier, when his hands appeared fine — has prompted much speculation, with guesses ranging from claims that the senator has contracted COVID-19 to the possibility that he has a vascular disease and/or is undergoing dialysis and is taking blood thinners. As neither McConnell nor any of his representatives have publicly commented on his condition, a definitive answer is not yet available.

Of course with the benefit of perfect hindsight vision, we now know it was only a few months later that Mitch McConnell would suddenly freeze up like a glitched robot at a microphone….not once, but twice!

Were the hands and mouth an early indicator something was very wrong?

Remember this?

BREAKING: Mitch McConnell “Freezes Up” Again For About 30 Seconds…Very Alarming