Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell may face fresh scrutiny about his health after he abruptly froze while speaking at the podium during his weekly press conference on Wednesday.
After a 30-second pause, his GOP colleagues helped lead the 81-year-old lawmaker away as Senator John Thune stepped in.
Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming was heard whispering, “Hey Mitch, anything else you want to say? Or should we just go back to your office? Do you want to say anything else to the press?”
Though he returned a few minutes later to finish the presser telling the reporters, “I’m fine,” the bizarre incident raised fresh questions about McConnell’s health, as it comes just months after he recovered from a concussion and broken rib from a fall at a Washington hotel. An aide for the Republican lawmaker said that McConnell “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
Lingering Problems
It was on March 8, following an event for the Senate Leadership Fund – a GOP super PAC aligned with McConnell and the Republican leadership – at the Waldorf Astoria that he tripped and fell over. He was hospitalized with a concussion and a minor rib fracture. He was unable to return to the Senate until mid-April.
Many of McConnell’s critics on social media quickly addressed how President Joe Biden – who is a year younger than the Senate Minority Leader – can’t descend a stairway without scrutiny, and have suggested that McConnell should consider stepping down.
Even some GOP supporters on social media saw that this was a serious problem that could be a sign of cognitive impairment from his serious head trauma earlier this year. A question also pondered on the social platforms is why McConnell wasn’t immediately taken to the hospital, and there is speculation online that he may have suffered a stroke.
The health of some of the nation’s “elder statesmen and elder stateswomen” has become a serious issue – notably with Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who is the oldest senator at 89 years of age. There have been repeated calls for her to resign, and for there to be age limits for U.S. lawmakers.
The Turtle Jokes Could Return For Mitch McConnell
Wednesday’s incident could also reignite some light-hearted mockery that McConnell has been forced to endure.
For years, the Senate Minority Leader has been compared to a “turtle,” so much so that a Change.org petition demanded he prove otherwise, while back in 2014, someone had edited the Wikipedia page for the Republican lawmaker from Kentucky that even described him as the shelled reptile.
Following his frozen stair, those jokes may come crawling back – and faster than McConnell may like!
McConnell has served in the United States Senate since 1985, and he isn’t up for re-election again until the 2026 midterm elections.
Author Experience and Expertise
A Senior Editor for 19FortyFive, Peter Suciu is a Michigan-based writer. He has contributed to more than four dozen magazines, newspapers, and websites with over 3,200 published pieces over a twenty-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a Contributing Writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu.
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