Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY) suffered an apparent health episode while speaking at a press conference on Wednesday, prompting several conservative personalities to call on him to resign.
The 81-year-old Republican from Kentucky was speaking to reporters when he suddenly froze mid-sentence and stared blankly for roughly 20 seconds.
“Good afternoon, everyone. We’re on a path to finishing the NDAA (National Defense Authorization Act) this week, there’s been good bipartisan cooperation and a string of…” he said before halting his thought.
Colleagues eventually stepped in to ask McConnell if he wished to say anything further to the press. He was then escorted away.
BREAKING NOW: Mitch McConnell FREEZES MID SPEECH at Senate press conference, is escorted from podium..
— Chuck Callesto (@ChuckCallesto) July 26, 2023
In an apparent sign that he was feeling better later on, McConnell joked that he, like President Joe Biden earlier this year, had been “sandbagged.”
“The President called to check on me. I told him I got sandbagged,” he quipped.
McConnell proceeded to tell reporters he was “fine.”
Senator Mitch McConnell’s response to the incident today at the press conference where he froze up: “The President called to check on me. I told him I got sandbagged”
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 27, 2023
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McConnell Health Scare Prompts Concern … And Calls To Resign
McConnell’s apparent health scare prompted the usual reactions to such an incident, with many conservatives hoping that he is well and many liberals celebrating as if it is some sort of defense for Biden’s frequent brain malfunctions.
Unlike most liberals, however, conservatives promptly called on the octogenarian congressman to step down.
Journalist Jordan Schachtel tweeted that the only correct thing for McConnell to do is retire.
“When a senior citizen in political office has a major health crisis on live television, the only decision left is to resign,” he wrote. “Retire and move on. You are now a major liability. Pass the torch.”
Schachtel added, “These power-hungry octogenarians are making the USA an international laughingstock.”
When a senior citizen in political office has a major health crisis on live television, the only decision left is to resign. Retire and move on. You are now a major liability. Pass the torch.
These power hungry octogenarians are making the USA an international laughingstock.
— Jordan Schachtel @ dossier.today (@JordanSchachtel) July 26, 2023
Conservative commentator Rogan O’Handley added his own observations, stating, “This man has clear cognitive impairments after sustaining serious head trauma from his fall a few months ago.”
BREAKING: Mitch McConnell has cognitive malfunction at podium
Has to be escorted away by fellow Senators
This man has clear cognitive impairments after sustaining serious head trauma from his fall a few months ago
It is clear that he should resign pic.twitter.com/iLNJvCRmx7
— DC_Draino (@DC_Draino) July 26, 2023
Political commentator Benny Johnson called McConnell unwell and said he “is a cancer on the GOP,” an apparent reference to when the Kentucky Senator called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) the very same thing.
After suffering a stroke on camera Mitch McConnell tries to laugh it off with a joke hastily written by his staff then proceeds to immediately freeze up again and stare off into the middle distance.
McConnell is unwell.
He is a cancer on the GOP.
Resignpic.twitter.com/nYzbNYHkJf— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) July 27, 2023
Dan McLaughlin, senior writer at the National Review, indicated that while McConnell has been in remarkable health for some time, this and his latest string of health scares are a sign he should step down as a leader of the Republican party.
Mitch has been in very robust health for a man his age until this year, but at 81, really time to consider stepping down from the top spot soon. https://t.co/tvTEHDoIOM
— Dan McLaughlin (@baseballcrank) July 26, 2023
RELATED: Trump: Democrats Must ‘Have Something Really Big’ On Mitch McConnell
Multiple Falls?
Earlier this year, McConnell suffered another health scare when he tripped at a D.C. hotel after an event for the Senate Leadership Fund.
He suffered a concussion and cracked rib from the incident and spent several days in the hospital, returning to work six weeks after the initial fall.
Now, CNN is reporting that aides have quietly admitted the GOP leader has fallen more than once.
The first incident reportedly took place when McConnell and a US delegation met with the Finnish president in Helsinki this past February. The second took place earlier this month at Reagan National Airport in Washington, where he tripped and fell while getting off a plane.
McConnell has fallen multiple times this year, sources sayhttps://t.co/0NAMGMq7rM
— MSN (@MSN) July 27, 2023
President Biden has tripped countless times, with most of these incidents involving his arch-nemesis: stairs.
There have been very few calls from the left for him to resign.
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