Video altered to claim McConnell had large bandage, 'froze' after fall | Fact check
The claim: Video shows Mitch McConnell with bandaged head after December 2024 fall
A Dec. 14 Facebook post (direct link, archive link) shows Sen. Mitch McConnell with a heavily bandaged head.
“Senator, is your head OK after that fall?” a voice asks as McConnell stares off and does not respond.
The same video was shared in an Instagram post liked more than 100 times in a day before being taken down. It could also be found in other Facebook and X posts.
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Our rating: Altered
The bandage and the voice asking McConnell about his injury were digitally added to a video from a 2023 news conference. Photos of McConnell after his December 2024 injury show minimal bandaging.
Original video comes from McConnell’s 2023 ‘freeze’ on camera
McConnell fell on Dec. 10 after a luncheon for Republican senators, causing the 82-year-old Kentucky Republican to get medical treatment. It was the latest in a series of medical incidents or accidents for McConnell since the start of 2023.
The Facebook claim plays on these incidents, but the clip is altered with the bandage and the reporter’s voice digitally added to make it appear to be related to the recent injury.
The authentic footage was taken July 26, 2023, the first of a pair of times in which McConnell stood and stared silently, appearing to “freeze” while holding a news conference. Video of the moment from C-SPAN shows nearly identical footage from the social media post, including a man in a white shirt walking briskly behind him. But in the original, McConnell does not have the bandage, and no reporter asks about his head.
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Photos of McConnell in the aftermath of the fall in December showed him with a small bandage under an eye and a wrist brace. He was treated the day of the fall and continued to work on Dec. 11 before resting on Dec. 12 because of leg stiffness.
The video appears to have been first shared in a Dec. 10 post by an X user who has shared altered videos in the past. Paste BN has previously debunked a video from that account that edited a child swearing into a video of Jill Biden speaking to kids. The account profile page says its content includes “a little bit of parody,” although the McConnell video was not explicitly labeled as such.
Paste BN reached out to Facebook users who shared the claim for comment but did not immediately receive responses.
PolitiFact, Snopes and Lead Stories also debunked the claim.
Our fact-check sources
- C-SPAN, July 25, 2023, Senate Republican Agenda
- Reuters, Dec. 10, Republican Senator Mitch McConnell suffers minor injury in fall at U.S. Capitol
- Associated Press, Dec. 12, McConnell absent from Senate on Thursday as he recovers from fall in Capitol
- @PapiTrumpo, accessed Dec. 16, Profile on X
- @PapiTrumpo, Dec. 10, Post on X
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