CNN's McConnell Coverage Takes an Embarrassing Turn Thanks to a Fake Congressman

Red State ^ | July 09, 2026 | Nick Arama

[Red Badger]

As we reported, Sen Mitch McConnell (R-KY) has been hospitalized for about three weeks. That's prompted some speculation on his condition and conspiracy theories, particularly from those on the left.

But some of those conspiracies took a hit when people like CNN commentator and Salem Media host Scott Jennings reported he had a conversation with McConnell, as did multiple other Republican politicians, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Rep. Thomas Massie (KY-04).

But when CNN covered that story, they made a rather big and hilarious mistake, showing why we can never trust the media. Here they are reporting on the Republicans who supposedly said they spoke to McConnell, including one who spoke to him for about "45 minutes," Rep. Jack Kimble.

“So you have a lot of Senate Republicans coming out. We're going to just show some on screen, Isaac, all saying, “I talked to him.” “I talked to him.” “I talked to him for 20 minutes.” “I talked to him for 45 minutes.”

As Nicholas Spinnato of Newsbusters explained: Rep. Jack Kimble (CA-54) is a parody account; he doesn't exist.

Here's what the post looks like as of this writing.

I spoke to my old friend Mitch McConnell this morning, the senior Senator from Kentucky. He’s still recovering in the hospital. We talked for just shy of 45 minutes. He's so sharp. Just like always he let me do all of the talking. He's a great listener. After that we prayed silently for awhile and had a staring contest. Just like always, he beat me. I told him we want to see him back at work as soon as possible.

Seriously, CNN? If that's what the post looked like, they couldn't tell that it was a fake? And if that's what it looked like, they pared it down and weren't presenting the full tweet, which would have raised a question to most people.

Not only didn't CNN ask themselves why they hadn't heard of Jack Kimble before, but they didn't even bother to do a basic check on whether he was actually a member of Congress. How can you trust anything they say when they can't even do something that simple? How embarrassing can you get?

That also tells you (if we didn't already know) something about their failure of process in general. Is it any wonder President Donald Trump calls them "fake news" when they run such things? He's probably going to have a good laugh when he hears this one.

"Rep. Jack Kimble" had a little fun with them.

Good job, guy!

On Thursday, CNN's Audie Cornish fessed up to the mistake.

If we didn't already know how bad media can be, add another example to the can.

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TOPICS: Computers/Internet; Health/Medicine; Society; TV/Movies
KEYWORDS: audiecornish; chicommitch; cnn; fakenews; jackbkimble; jackbquick; jackkimble; johnthune; kentucky; mitchfeinstein; mitchmcconnell; newsbusters; nicholasspinnato; repjackkimble; scottjennings; sosaysrepjackkimble; southdakota; tdsmitch; thomasmassie; weekendatmitches

[If You Want It Fixed - Fix It]

Maybe she flew to china to get a heart and brain and soul for transplant????

So...she DOES love him afterall.

Here I thought she was headed to a non-extradition country.

[Wayne07]

Yes, she is back.

[Robert A Cook PE]

So, ABCNNBCBS made (yet another) stupid, literally u professional mistake.
Will they even have the courage to admit their corrections on air?

[Liz]

The height of stupidity ....... broadcast TV.

[vivenne]

Sometimes people say they “talked” to others when they really mean texted or emailed. “Talked”in this case means “communicated with”. Maybe Scott got an email from “Mitch” and considered that talking without actually hearing Mitch’s voice. It’s totally suspicious. One doesn’t really come back from being unconscious and in cardiac arrest needing CPR and ALS. Not buying it.

[vivenne]

China would definitely have those organs for sale—a few state secrets from Elaine and the deal would be sealed.