Mitch McConnell abruptly stopped his opening remarks at an afternoon press conference on Wednesday, causing alarm when he left for a few minutes and then returning to answer questions.
The Senate minority leader only got through a few words of his speech about the chamber’s annual defense bill, then trailed off and stared straight ahead for a few minutes as his fellow senators asked if he was OK. A McConnell aide said he was feeling light-headed. McConnell himself said “I’m fine” following the brief episode and took questions from reporters.
McConnell, 81, suffered a concussion in March following a fall and returned to his duties in April. He has since gone about his job as usual, though has occasionally struggled to hear reporters’ questions at the weekly press availabilities.
The GOP leader waved off a subsequent question regarding who would succeed him in leading the conference. McConnell has served as head of the Senate GOP since 2007, and faced his first challenge last fall, handily defeating Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.).
“I was concerned when he fell and hit his head a number of months ago. He was hospitalized and he’s made a remarkable recovery, he’s doing a great job leading our conference,” said Sen. John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), the No. 3 GOP leader, who briefly conferred with McConnell amid the episode.
“He was able to answer every question that the press asked him today,” Barrasso added. “And you may note, he answered more questions than he normally does.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said he wished McConnell well.
After returning to Wednesday’s press conference, the Kentucky Republican took questions on topics ranging from congressional spending to Hunter Biden to the possibility of the GOP House impeaching President Joe Biden. He said he was “not surprised” House Republicans would look at impeaching Biden after former President Donald Trump was twice impeached.
“We had not one but two impeachments, and once we go down this path, it incentivizes the other side to do the same thing,” McConnell said. “This is not good for the country. To have repeated impeachment problems.”
Alex Daugherty contributed to this report.
