Mitch McConnell’s bizarre hospital proof-of-life photo sparks memes and conspiracy theories

What amounts to a proof-of-life photo of Sen. Mitch McConnell, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican, amid his extended hospital disappearance has sparked a slew of increasingly ridiculous internet memes.Although multiple GOP colleagues had claimed they’ve spoken to McConnell since he entered the hospital on June 14 — and CNN commentator Scott Jennings prompted the network to distance itself from him after he claimed he had a phone call with McConnell — there had been scant communication about his health status until his office released the photo on Sunday, hours after South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham died.As McConnell’s hospital stay went on and his absence from the Senate floor continued, speculation mounted about his health and whether he may be dead or incapacitated. In response, McConnell’s office released a photo showing him awake in the hospital beside his wife, former Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, and holding a copy of Sunday’s Washington Post sports section.The photo accompanied a lengthy statement insisting McConnell suffered a “mild case of pneumonia” after a fall left him unconscious last month, but that he’s “receiving excellent care” and has recovered enough to begin physical rehabilitation.Related: Mitch McConnell’s staffers offer peculiar proof of life after Lindsey Graham’s death Republicans may have hoped that the photo was enough to satisfy a curious public as they try to hold on to a narrow Senate majority, even thinner after Graham's death and McConnell's absence, but the internet had other ideas.Social media has been flooded with photoshopped and AI-doctored memes that replace McConnell in the photo with a turtle, add dead celebrities to the background, or turn the photo into a video of McConnell dancing. People on the internet are really on a roll this week, first poking fun at Graham, the anti-LGBTQ+ Republican who consistently denied being gay, and now roasting McConnell.There is also a fairly widespread