SENATOR Mitch McConnell has suffered a fall in the latest of a series of health emergencies that have left supporters terrified for his well-being.
Medics grabbed a wheelchair and raced to the Kentucky senator’s office after he collapsed during a GOP luncheon on Tuesday.
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Moments later, a Washington DC fire and rescue team left his office.
McConnell spoke at the lunch, and GOP leaders exiting the meeting didn’t appear to know what was going on.
The senator’s condition was unclear until a spokesperson confirmed he was doing fine.
When asked what happened, his office said, “Leader McConnell tripped following lunch.
“He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist.
“He has been cleared to resume his schedule.”
However, McConnell failed to give his weekly press conference and had to be replaced by Senate Majority Leader-Elect John Thune.
When asked about the frail senator’s condition, Thune also said his colleague was “fine.”
“He’s in his office,” said Thune.
“And any other questions about Senator McConnell, I’ll refer to staff.”
The U.S. Sun reached out for more information on what happened.
McConnell, 82, who has served as GOP minority leader since 2007, announced in February that he would step down from that position after this year’s election.
However, he planned to fulfill his term as senator until February 2027.
McConnell, who is the longest-running GOP leader, has faced a worrying series of health battles and ailments in his final term as Kentucky senator.
In March 2023, McConnell took a brutal fall at a dinner in Washington DC, and was left with a concussion and cracked rib.
It took six weeks for the aging politician to recover from those injuries.
Mitch McConnell’s road to Republican Senate leader
- Mitch McConnell was born in Sheffield, Alabama, on February 20, 1942.
- He enlisted in the US Army Reserve as a private in Louisville, Kentucky.
- He got his start in politics in 1968 as a chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook in Washington, DC.
- In 1971, McConnell returned to Kentucky, where he worked on Tom Emberton’s campaign for state governor.
- In October 1974, McConnell returned to the nation’s capital to fill a position as deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford.
- McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, making history as the first Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democrat and the first GOP member to win a statewide Kentucky race since 1968.
- Republicans voted McConnell the party’s leader in 2007.
- After Republicans took control of the Senate following the 2014 Senate elections, McConnell became the Senate Majority Leader.
- In June 2018, he became the longest-serving Senate Republican leader in the history of the United States.
In July of the same year, he froze for 19 seconds at a news conference in the Capitol in a worrying moment caught on camera.
Addressing assembled cameras and reporters, he suddenly stopped speaking and stared blankly ahead before an aide intervened.
After a while, McConnell was then able to pick back up with his remarks.
Worried colleagues said they’d noticed a decline since he suffered the fall.
McConnell’s office attributed the two freezing incidents to him feeling “momentarily lightheaded ” but provided no further details.
In September 2023, McConnell’s staff released medical notes written to him by Dr Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, which said that the senator wasn’t showing signs of seizure disorders, a stroke, or Parkinson’s disease.
The Office of Attending Physician had cleared McConnell to continue working, the notes said.
Speaking to Face the Nation in October last year, McConnell insisted he had “completely recovered” and was “back on the job,” following concerns about his health and ability to govern.
Thune will take over as the Senate GOP leader in January.
