Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze for about 30 seconds Wednesday during an event with reporters in Kentucky, with the incident coming a month after a similar freeze-up.
Footage in the social-media post below from a local TV station, WLWT, shows the 81-year-old Kentucky Republican freezing up after a question about seeking re-election.
Additional video shows McConnell getting help from an aide with responding to other questions and then being led away.
A spokesman for the 81-year-old Kentucky Republican said the senator “felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today,” according to multiple published reports.
“While he feels fine, as a prudential measure, the Leader will be consulting a physician prior to his next event,” his office also said.
In a statement after last month’s incident, a spokesman said McConnell plans to serve the rest of the 118th Congress as the GOP leader, but the statement didn’t address his plans for the next Congress, which starts in January 2025.
If McConnell leaves the post of Senate Republican leader, three GOP senators are viewed as in the running to succeed him: John Barrasso of Wyoming, John Cornyn of Texas and John Thune of South Dakota.
McConnell’s current term as a U.S. senator runs through 2026, and Kentucky’s Democratic governor would be required to pick a Republican to replace him if he steps down early.
A number of political figures have drawn attention this year due to their advanced age or health problems, including President Joe Biden, 80; Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, 90; and Democratic Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania, 54.
Biden told reporters on Wednesday afternoon that he had heard about McConnell’s situation, and he planned to reach out to the senator, adding that they are friends even though they have disagreements politically.
“I’m going to try to get in touch with him later this afternoon,” the president said.
The Senate’s median age is 65.3 years old, up from 64.8 in the 117th Congress and 63.6 in the 116th, according to a Pew Research Center analysis from January.
On Tuesday, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, said he has been “diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma, a very treatable blood cancer.” Scalise, 57, said he has started treatment, which will continue for the next several months, and he expects to work while getting treated and intends to return to Washington, D.C.
See: Biden’s age is figuring ‘prominently’ in the 2024 White House race — but here’s what the pundits could be getting wrong
And read: Biden is reportedly using shorter stairs to sidestep ageism. Millions of other Americans face the same workplace problems.
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