Mitch McConnell gets ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ treatment in AI memes after viral Senate appearance
Por Bruce Golding — – World RSS Feed
Mitch McConnell gets ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ treatment in AI memes after viral Senate appearance
Other social media videos show the Kentucky Republican, 84, performing acrobatic flips in a wheelchair
Bruce Golding Friday 18 September 2026 00:26 BST
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Social media users are mocking the physical condition of 84-year-old Sen. Mitch McConnell — with one vicious video turning him into the murdered man at the center of the movie “Weekend at Bernie’s” with the help of artificial intelligence.
“Mitch McConnell takes on the role he was born to play: Bernie Lomax,” says a description of the 64-second clip posted on YouTube by AI creator The Maitrix. “No politicians were required to move under their own power during the making of this video.”
The 1989 dark comedy cult classic revolves around the slapstick antics of two young insurance company employees who spend a weekend in the Hamptons pretending their slain boss is still alive to avoid being blamed for his death.
Other AI videos show McConnell performing acrobatic flips in a wheelchair after zooming down a ski jump or an X Games-style “mega ramp,” with the aging Kentucky Republican casually adjusting his glasses after nailing one landing.
A McConnell spokesperson didn’t immediately return a Thursday afternoon inquiry from The Independent.
open image in galleryMcConnell returned to work on Monday, looking frail and using a wheelchair after a three-month absence sparked by a fall in his Washington, D.C., home.
McConnell’s long time away from the Capitol prompted widespread speculation about his health and a demand from Democratic Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear that he provide details or resign.
On Wednesday, a video clip of McConnell being coached by fellow Republicans before casting a tie-breaking vote to move the annual farm bill out of the agriculture committee renewed questions about his fitness.
In a statement posted later on social media, McConnell said, “I was proud to vote yes on the Farm Bill on behalf of the hardworking farm families across Kentucky.”
In addition to the AI videos mocking him, multiple social media users reposted and captioned a clip shot Monday by TMZ that shows McConnell sitting motionless in a vehicle and staring straight ahead.
open image in galleryThe cruel cracks include “Actual footage of me on 100mg of edibles when I’m out in public,” “Me at the red light while the homeless guy stares in my window” and “dog in the passenger seat on the way to get one last ice cream cone before being put down.”
McConnell, who’s been a senator since 1985 and plans to retire in January, holds the record for being the chamber’s longest-serving party leader, from 2007 to 2025.
He was majority leader from 2015 to 2021, during which he blocked President Barack Obama’s 2016 nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court on the grounds that the vacancy should be filled after that year’s presidential election.
McConnell later pushed through President Donald Trump’s 2020 nomination of Amy Coney Barrett just weeks before that year’s election, which Trump lost to Joe Biden.
GOP U.S. Rep. Andy Barr and Democratic Kentucky state Rep. Charles Booker are vying to succeed McConnell, with the Cook Political Report rating the race “solid” Republican.
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