Former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene turned her ire on Elaine Chao while Senator Mitch McConnell remained hospitalized, claiming there was a “100 percent chance” that his wife is a “Chinese communist spy.”
Greene’s accusation leaned on images in Chinese media that appeared to place Chao in Beijing with Vice President Han Zheng three days after McConnell entered the hospital.
“His wife flew to China and met with the vice president of China just days after he basically died, and they brought him back with CPR and took him to the hospital,” Greene said.
From Chao, Greene widened the attack to GOP leadership and accused the party of abandoning scrutiny of McConnell’s condition.
“Shame on the Republican Party for basically staying silent while such a powerful Republican senator is laying in the hospital,” Greene said.
😳 Marjorie Taylor Greene tells @jacob_wass that Sen. Mitch McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, is a communist spy. pic.twitter.com/s1aVN7uZGN
— TMZ (@TMZ) July 7, 2026
Greene framed the Chao claim as part of what she said Republicans should be confronting about Chinese influence, even as the party campaigns against socialism.
“When are we going to call out a possible Communist Chinese spy?” she questioned.
“What woman leaves her husband’s side while he is dead or dying in the hospital, flies to China and meets with the vice president?”
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Despite Greene’s accusation that Republican leaders were disengaged, staff for Senators John Thune and John Barrasso said McConnell had held extended phone conversations with both men.
The calls reportedly touched on national security, upcoming Senate races, the Graham Platner controversy, the National Defense Authorization Act and Jay Clayton’s confirmation fight.
A spokesperson for Thune described one of the calls as “substantive.”
“Leader Thune spoke with Sen. McConnell yesterday by phone. They had a lengthy and substantive conversation that covered a variety of topics, including national security,” the spokesperson said.
Elaine Chao, who is likely a Chinese spy married to Mitch McConnell, has been in China almost the entire time the nearly dead Senator has been in the hospital. And she met with China’s VP.
Now that she’s back, they are running a PR campaign.
Sure totally normal.🙄 https://t.co/tPWuYBMISg— Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@FmrRepMTG) July 7, 2026
Scott Jennings of CNN gave another public account of McConnell’s condition after a Tuesday conversation with him.
“We talked for just shy of 20 minutes about Iran, Ukraine and the unfolding situation in Maine, my visit to the TR Presidential Library, and even a little bit of Senate history,” Jennings tweeted.
“I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible,” he added.
Since McConnell’s June 14 hospitalization, few details about his condition have been made public.
He has suffered a concussion, falls and two unexplained freeze-ups at the podium over the past few years.
The secrecy around McConnell’s health also fed a Monday claim from Laura Loomer that White House sources had described him as “brain dead,” which his office strongly denied.
McConnell’s office pointed back to its previous update on his condition.
McConnell “continues to improve and is working closely with his staff on Kentucky and Senate matters while the Senate is out of session,” a spokesperson said.
McConnell’s condition became a springboard for Greene’s argument that lawmakers should leave office before serious health problems interfere with the job.
“None of these elected officials — Republicans, Democrats, congressmen or senators — should ever stay in office until they’re ailing in health,” she said.
Greene said the pressure should fall on McConnell’s family to announce a resignation, then blamed establishment politics for allowing frail officials to cling to power.
“But you know what? It doesn’t surprise me from the establishment because this is what—this is what they support,” she added.
“They support people holding on to power until they’re practically dead, or do die in office. And this is why the state of our country is so pathetic.”
Her preferred replacement was Rep. Thomas Massie, whom Greene said she wanted in the Senate if Kentucky had to fill McConnell’s seat.
“There needs to be a new election in Kentucky where there can be a functioning senator,” Greene said.
Greene also claimed Massie’s opponents and donors had robbed Kentucky of the seat, saying they “totally stole that seat from Kentucky.”
“I think Thomas Massie would make a great senator,” Greene added.
The same day, Greene also put herself in the middle of the Democratic Senate crisis surrounding Maine candidate Graham Platner.
During a Tuesday appearance on ABC’s “The View,” Greene cast doubt on the timing of a sexual assault allegation against Platner, calling it a possible “political hit job.”
Co-host Sara Haines pressed Greene on whether Platner should quit after a “very serious allegation” that he sexually assaulted a woman in 2021, an allegation Haines noted he denied.
“You know, I don’t know anything about his policies. I just started learning about him yesterday when I saw this blow up,’ she responded. “However, I do know what establishment political hit jobs look like.”
Greene said she stands behind victims, but argued the allegation should have been reported before Platner became a candidate.
“And I really wish women — when a woman is raped, it’s extremely serious. And I stand behind women that are raped — and I ended my political career on that, by the way — and I wish women would come forward,” she told ABC panel.
“The most important thing a woman can do is come forward and report a rape, not report it years later when someone is running for office.”
Haines responded that sexual-assault victims often delay reporting because coming forward can be difficult.
“Oh, of course yes,” Greene backtracked.
She had already drawn backlash online after reposting a Polymarket item about bettors wagering on Platner’s future and adding criticism of the accuser.
BREAKING: Graham Platner is now projected to drop out of the Maine Senate race by tomorrow.
>70% chance.https://t.co/rxhw0F9emm
— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 7, 2026
“If you are raped or sexually assaulted, report it immediately. Don’t wait years later until the man runs for office to go to news outlets to tell your story,” Greene wrote after the story broke.
“And if you had consensual sex with him years ago, don’t turn it into rape for politics with conflicting stories.”
She deleted the comment shortly after posting it.
In the Monday afternoon story, Racicot alleged that Platner came into her home uninvited while drunk in 2021 and forced himself on her after she refused.
Racicot said her connection to Platner began on Bumble in 2019 and continued in an on-and-off relationship.
After publication, Platner said the campaign would “reflect on the best path forward.”
By Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., had also urged Platner to step aside.
“I have spoken with Graham Platner about the best path forward for Maine,” Sanders commented. “In light of these very serious allegations, I have recommended that he step aside.”
His break put him alongside other former Platner backers in the Senate, including Sens. Elizabeth Warren, Chris Van Hollen and Ruben Gallego.
