Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao returned to the United States from China this week after her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, was hospitalized on June 14.
Chao’s travel during McConnell’s hospitalization fueled unfounded conspiracy theories online.
More: McConnell’s health raises questions amid hospitalization. What we know
“The secretary was on a long-planned trip in China to support her family’s philanthropic endeavors,” a spokesperson for Chao said in a statement to The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. “During the trip, she met with a number of people, including the U.S. ambassador. The senator’s health did not warrant an immediate return to the U.S.”
Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell: See the Republican leader’s decades-long career in office
40 of 40McConnell stands on stage with his wife, Elaine Chao, at the Republican National Convention on Aug. 26, 2012, in Tampa, Fla.(Mark Wilson, Getty Images)More
Chao, who headed the Transportation Department during President Donald Trump‘s first term and served as Labor secretary under President George W. Bush, has been married to McConnell for decades. Days after he was hospitalized, on June 17, the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, released a photograph of Chao seated beside Chinese Vice President Han Zheng before a grand painting of the Great Wall in Beijing.
Chao’s staff did not indicate whether she’d been in contact with McConnell since returning home, according to the CBS affiliate WLKY in Louisville. She left for the trip to China on June 12, just two days before McConnell was hospitalized, according to the outlet.
Also amid the swirling news cycle, the Kentucky senator’s youngest daughter, Porter McConnell, deleted her social media account on X, according to the Independent.
