Elaine Chao, wife of Mitch McConnell, issues statement after US return

Former US Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao returned to the US from China this week following the murder of her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell. He was hospitalized on June 14.

Chao’s travel during McConnell’s hospitalization sparked unsubstantiated conspiracy theories online.

More: The health condition of McConnell, who was hospitalized, raises questions. What do we know?

“The secretary was on a long-planned trip to China to support his family’s philanthropic efforts,” a spokesperson for Chao said in a statement to The Courier Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. he said. “During the trip, he met with many people, including the US ambassador. The senator’s health condition did not require his immediate return to the US.”

Chao, who headed the Department of Transportation during his presidency Donald TrumpMcConnell, who served as Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush in his first term, has been married to McConnell for decades. On June 17, days after he was hospitalized, the Chinese embassy in Washington, DC, released a statement. Chao’s photo He was sitting next to Chinese Vice President Han Zheng in front of the magnificent painting of the Great Wall in Beijing.

Chao’s staff did not indicate whether he had been in contact with McConnell since returning home, according to CBS affiliate WLKY in Louisville. According to media reports, McConnell left for China on June 12, just two days before he was hospitalized.

Also in the middle of the swirling news cycle is Porter McConnell, the youngest daughter of the Kentucky senator. deleted his social media account In X, according to the Independent.

This article first appeared on USA TODAY: Mitch McConnell’s wife, Elaine Chao, made a statement after returning to the USA