A day after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) appeared to freeze up for a second time at a podium in recent weeks while speaking to reporters, there are renewed calls for the 81-year-old to step down. Among those suggesting that it is time for McConnell to pass the torch was fellow Republican lawmaker Marjorie Taylor Greene who represents Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
She also called for several other “elder statesmen/stateswomen” to also step down.
“Severe aging health issues and/or mental health incompetence in our nation’s leaders MUST be addressed. Biden, McConnell, Feinstein, and Fetterman are examples of people who are not fit for office and it’s time to be serious about it ” Greene (@RepMTG) wrote Wednesday in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In a follow-up tweet, she added, “These politician’s staff and family members should be ashamed of themselves by enabling and allowing their loved ones to remain in office all to hold power. We are talking about our country’s national security and it’s all at stake! 25th amendment and other measures need to be on the table.”
Greene was not the only Republican to see McConnell’s second freeze-up as a problem. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Florida) (@mattgaetz) also took to X, tweeting, “Yikes.”
“It’s one of the problems that we have with Washington, which is that there is a time to lead and a time to pass on the torch to another generation,” Frank Luntz, a Republican pollster, told CNN.
Mitch McConnell was Frozen
During an event on Wednesday in Kentucky, McConnell was asked about running for reelection in 2026 and he appeared to begin to answer before quickly freezing and going silent for about thirty seconds. It was the second time in less than two months that he appeared to freeze during a news conference.
McConnell attempted to dismiss the first incident earlier this summer, and when asked by reporters about it, he responded that he was “sandbagged” – an apparent reference to Joe Biden’s fall at the U.S. Air Force Academy in Colorado in May.
A spokesperson for McConnell said after the incident that the senator felt “light-headed” and that he would consult a doctor.
McConnell had suffered a concussion in March when he fell at a Washington hotel during a fund-raising event. He was absent from the Senate for weeks while giving almost no updates on his health status.
Political Payback?
The fact that Greene was so critical of Mitch McConnell isn’t entirely a surprise, even as the commentary on X usually stays on party lines – notably in how RNC Research will almost daily find something wrong with President Joe Biden.
As NBC News reported, McConnell had previously voiced his rebuke of Greene and in 2021, the senator slammed her “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer” for the party and the country.
Though McConnell isn’t up for reelectionn until 2026, there have already been calls for term limits. That will only likely pick up steam after this latest frozen incident involving the senate minority leader – and not just Greene.
Yikes. https://t.co/0hSXLnJYcK
— Matt Gaetz (@mattgaetz) August 30, 2023
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.
From the Vault
Donald Trump May Have a New Problem: Melania Trump
Barack Obama Scolds Americans for Offering ‘Thoughts and Prayers’ During Maui Tragedy
Donald Trump Keeps Making ‘Chilling’ Threats That Could Land Him in Jail
