Top U.S. Senate Republican Mitch McConnell appears to freeze up for more than 30 seconds during a public appearance before he was escorted away, the second such incident in a little more than a month, after an event with the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce in Covington, Kentucky, August 30, 2023 in a still image from video.
ABC Affiliate WCPO | via Reuters
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is “medically clear” to continue working, the attending physician for the U.S. Congress said one day after the Kentucky Republican froze up during a press conference for the second time this summer.
“Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration,” said Dr. Brian Monahan in a letter shared Thursday from McConnell’s office.
The doctor was referencing a concussion that McConnell, 81, had suffered in March after a fall at a political fundraiser.
At the start of a Wednesday afternoon press conference in Covington, Kentucky, McConnell abruptly stopped speaking and stared straight ahead for about 30 seconds.
He appeared to fail to respond when an aide approached him to ask if he had heard a reporter’s question. McConnell had been asked for his thoughts about running for reelection.
The episode echoed a similar health scare in July, when McConnell suddenly froze and was briefly unable to speak at a news conference in Washington, D.C.
An aide to McConnell had suggested Wednesday that McConnell’s lapse in Covington was the result of feeling “momentarily lightheaded.”
McConnell participated in a discussion with Rep. Jim Banks, R-Ind., later Wednesday evening, his office confirmed to CNBC.
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