Columnist Publishes Pre-Obituary for Senator Mitch McConnell

Joseph Gerth, a columnist for the Louisville Courier-Journal, published a pre-obituary of Senator Mitch McConnell on July 22, 2026. Gerth characterized the 84-year-old Republican as a "detestable figure" and compared him to Richard Nixon, arguing that McConnell's legacy is marked by the destruction of the Supreme Court's credibility.

Gerth criticized McConnell for facilitating a radical conservative majority on the court and for failing to limit the power of Donald Trump. The columnist asserted that McConnell embraced a president he privately considered unfit. He stated that he chose to write the piece while McConnell was still alive to avoid the reflexive defenses that typically follow a public figure's death, specifically citing the death of Senator Lindsey Graham on July 11 as a catalyst for his timing.

The publication follows a period of absence for McConnell, who is currently recovering in a rehabilitation facility. The senator is being treated for pneumonia after a fall that left him briefly unconscious.