It has been more than three weeks since Sen. Mitch McConnell was hospitalized, and since then, the 84-year-old Kentucky Republican has not been seen or heard from publicly. Former Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., told MS NOW’s Chris Hayes that she is “stunned” by the lack of information being released about his condition.

Boxer stressed the importance of maintaining transparency with voters — no matter the reason behind a lawmaker’s absence or the possible consequences.

“I remember when I was running for the Senate while I served in the House; I missed several votes because I was campaigning,” she recalled on “All In” on Tuesday evening. “I had to be honest — and if people were annoyed with me, I totally got it.”

The 85-year-old Democrat called the lack of transparency around McConnell “awful,” adding, “This is a public office; we don’t work in the private sector, and you need to just get out there with the truth.”

“If you were in the private sector, you’d have to report to your CEO if something happened to you,” she added. “They’re the CEOs of America, you know. So, get with it. It’s wrong. I don’t care who you are.”

The former senator said she doesn’t think Americans should “stand for” such a lack of transparency from lawmakers and urged McConnell’s colleagues to take action to ensure that his voters receive the answers they deserve.

“If we have to pass some kind of rule of the Senate — if you’re gone more than a few days, you better explain yourself,” she suggested.

Boxer, who served four terms in the Senate before announcing plans not to seek re-election in 2016, also spoke about the wider criticism of veteran lawmakers who refuse to leave public office.

“You can get sick when you’re young, so I don’t like ageism, but I do think there’s a point at which you do say goodbye,” she said.

Boxer recalled conversations with a fellow California Democrat, the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who refused calls to resign amid her declining health and died in office at age 90 in 2023.

“I went through such a difficult time when I talked to Senator Feinstein, when she was just going downhill, and I was asked to talk with her to really encourage her,” she recalled. Boxer said Feinstein had an “incredible legacy” but it was “being destroyed.”

“She got really mad at me when I called her, and she said, ‘This is my work, this is my calling,’” Boxer said.

The former senator said that if given the opportunity to speak with McConnell, she would give him the same advice.

“If Mitch McConnell were to call me, which he won’t, I would tell him what I told her: a) there’s life after the Senate; b) it feels good to get out when you still, you know, you’re functional, and do something else, and help other people.”

“And I couldn’t succeed with Diane,” she said. “I tried, I tried; it didn’t work.”

You can watch Boxer’s full interview in the clip at the top of the page.

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