After a weird incident on Wednesday in which he froze mid-sentence during a news conference and had to be taken out, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly attempting to dismiss worries about his health.
When asked if the incident was connected to a concussion he had in a fall earlier this year, the longtime Kentucky senator responded, “No, I’m good.
McConnell had been discussing the proposed military funding plan at the news conference for the Senate Republican leadership.
“We’re on a path to finishing the [National Defense Authorization Act],” McConnell said in opening his remarks. “This week has been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of a…”
As the awkward pause dragged on, he persisted in standing at the microphone, his body swaying slightly as he kept his mouth shut. Finally, colleagues came over, inquired about his well-being, and advised him to return to his office.
McConnell turned and began to shuffle away while remaining mute.
Later, when asked by a reporter how he was doing, he replied, “Fine.”
The reporter followed up, “You’re fine? You’re fully able to do your job?”
“Yeah,” McConnell replied.
An assistant to Senator Mitch McConnell, according to CNN, said the 81-year-old “felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
The aide quickly added, “He came back to handle Q and A, which as everyone observed was sharp,” though.
McConnell appeared to be doing better in a follow-up video that Scripps News Service reporter Nathaniel Reed shared on social media.
SENATE MINORITY LEADER MCCONNELL: “The President called to check up on me and I told him I got sandbagged”
McConnell doesn’t answer questions about what happened, just says “I’m fine” pic.twitter.com/cm8tvoiLIH
— Nathaniel Reed (@ReedReports) July 26, 2023
He even made a joke, adding, “The President called to check up on me and I told him I got sandbagged.” He might have been alluding to a recent event in which President Joe Biden stumbled over a sandbag on a stage and fell during commencement exercises at the U.S. Air Force Academy, or he might have been using the definition of the word “sandbagged,” as in smacked or shocked, as if with a sandbag.
McConnell disregarded a reporter’s question about whether he had seen a doctor since the incident, the Washington Post reported.
“I’m fine. That’s the important part,” McConnell responded.
According to Politico, McConnell has been a senator from Kentucky the longest. He was elected in 1984.
CNN noted that while he is up for reelection in 2026, he “has repeatedly declined to say if he will run for another term or try to run for GOP leader again in the next Congress, which begins in 2025.”
Thomas Cooper