Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell’s (R-KY) frightening medical episode at a Wednesday press conference renewed concerns about his overall health.
McConnell, 81, had just begun speaking to reporters about the National Defense Authorization Act when he suddenly froze, looking straight ahead with a blank stare for 18 seconds. Sen. John Barrasso (R-WY), the Senate GOP Conference chairman and a former orthopedic surgeon, walked up to the podium to ask McConnell if he was OK. Barrasso and a McConnell aide then helped walk the Republican leader to his office down the hall, where he stayed for a few minutes before returning to take questions from reporters.
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The GOP leader would only respond to questions about what had just occurred by noting, “I’m fine,” a statement a McConnell aide pointed to when reached by the Washington Examiner for comment on the incident.
The aide said that McConnell “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment,” adding that, “He came back to handle Q&A, which as everyone observed was sharp.”
An upbeat McConnell again assured reporters waiting outside his office that he was OK while walking back to the Senate floor shortly after the incident, though he did not directly respond when asked if he was dehydrated or had spoken to a doctor. He instead revealed that President Joe Biden had called to check in on him.
“So, the president called to check on me. I told him I got sandbagged,” the top Senate Republican joked, making reference to Biden’s fall onstage at last month’s Air Force Academy graduation, when the president tripped over a sandbag. “I’m fine. I’m fine, that’s the important part. Got to watch those sandbags.”
Biden’s gesture demonstrates just how much concern the episode sparked, though Senate Republicans who spent the evening with McConnell said Wednesday evening that he appeared to be doing much better.
Barrasso, who said he had “been concerned since the first time he was injured a number of months ago, [and] I continue to be concerned,” rejected the notion that McConnell’s condition was worsening, saying he had “no new concerns.”
“He’s made a remarkable recovery,” Barrasso said. “He’s doing a great job leading our conference. He was able to answer every question that the press asked him.”
“We were just at a dinner where he gave a seven-minute speech,” the Wyoming senator told the Washington Examiner while leaving the Capitol late Wednesday. “And it was perfect.”
McConnell, Barrasso, and the 30 or so senators who attended that dinner, returned to the Capitol afterward for NDAA amendment votes. The Senate GOP leader went back and forth between standing while leaning on a desk and sitting down while on the Senate floor for votes. He spent the majority of the time socializing with members, many of whom embraced him warmly.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), a close McConnell ally who is expected to make a bid for the top job if the Kentucky senator retires, dismissed the notion that the minority leader was unable to fulfill his duties.
“I have no reason to believe he’s not doing well. He’s as sharp as he ever was,” Cornyn said.
He also said he supports McConnell remaining as leader in the next Congress, telling reporters, “Well, I’ll support Sen. McConnell as long as he wants to continue to serve.”
Sen. Mike Rounds (R-SD) told the Washington Examiner after votes concluded that McConnell said his doctors had warned that he could experience lightheadedness as a result of injuries sustained during his March fall. That fall, which took place at a Washington, D.C., hotel, left the minority leader with a serious concussion and several broken ribs. McConnell returned to the Senate six weeks after the incident looking frail, though he has still maintained a full schedule.
Rounds said McConnell remarked to him that “It’s the first time it happened to me and, naturally, it happened right in front of everybody else.”
“Yikes, it sure took me by surprise,” Rounds said of the incident. “But he’s looking a whole lot better right now.”
The March fall was far from McConnell’s first serious medical challenge. The seven-term senator is a polio survivor. He walks with a limp and has long struggled with stairs and other obstacles as a result. He also fractured his shoulder after falling in August 2019 while home in Kentucky, which required surgery.
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After Wednesday’s incident sparked a renewed focus on McConnell’s advanced age and frail condition, numerous media outlets began reporting that the 81-year-old also suffered two other falls this year that were previously unknown.
The first slip occurred in February, while McConnell was in Helsinki, Finland, to meet the Finnish president. The second took place earlier this month at the Ronald Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., while disembarking from a flight that was canceled.
