Americans are keenly aware that a good portion of the nation’s leadership is getting “up there” in age.
From Joe Biden to Nancy Pelosi to Diane Feinstein to Chuck Schumer, the people serving in the U.S. government are not getting any younger.
And now Mitch McConnell is under the microscope after insiders revealed something unexpected.
McConnell fell at the airport
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is 81 years old and has had his share of health problems over the years, including an incident when he fell earlier this year.
The lawmaker ended up with a concussion and a cracked rib and spent a total of six weeks away from his post in the Senate.
In 2019, McConnell fell and fractured his shoulder while in Kentucky, which required him to have surgery.
McConnell is a polio survivor who has had difficulties walking up and down stairs and navigating other obstacles over the years.
Most recently, he “froze” for nearly 20 seconds during a news conference, prompting fellow Senator John Barrasso (R-WY) to guide him away from the microphone.
After several minutes passed, McConnell returned, finished the news conference, and then fielded questions from reporters about what happened.
“I’m fine,” McConnell told reporters, but an aide later admitted that he felt “lightheaded and stepped away for a moment.”
Later that evening, McConnell said that President Biden checked in on him to see how he was doing.
But now, some insiders revealed that the recent public freeze isn’t the only thing that Mitch McConnell has dealt with in the past few weeks.
According to two sources familiar with McConnell, he tripped and fell getting off of a plane at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport this month.
He was not seriously hurt and was seen later that day at the Capitol, where he talked to at least one reporter.
That fall had not been reported previously and occurred on July 14.
According to someone who was on the plane but did not witness the fall, the flight out of Washington, D.C., was canceled, and McConnell had a “face plant” when he tried to disembark.
That particular individual said another passenger talked to them about how they helped McConnell after he fell.
Another source familiar with McConnell said that he has recently been using a wheelchair to navigate crowded airports as a precaution.
“I got sandbagged”
When Joe Biden called McConnell after the freeze, he told the President that “I got sandbagged.”
One Republican Senator, speaking on the condition of anonymity due to the sensitive nature of the issue, admitted that “he’s definitely slower with his gait.”
This Senator also said McConnell “doesn’t address it’ in any of the closed-door GOP meetings.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said that he spoke to McConnell in a meeting, and there were “no concerns about his health in the meeting.”
Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) was asked if he had ever witnessed anything that suggested McConnell couldn’t run the GOP conference.
“He’s as sharp as he ever was,” Cornyn replied. “I’ll support Senator McConnell as long as he wants to continue to serve.”
Patriot Political will keep you up-to-date on any developments to this ongoing story.
