New alert for Mitch McConnell. The leader of the Republicans in the United States Senate on Wednesday aroused serious concerns about his health, being the victim of a long moment of absence in the middle of a press conference, for the second time in a month.
According to his spokesperson, McConnell felt “headspin for a moment and paused during his press conference.” “He feels fine but will be careful to consult a doctor”.
Traveling to his state of Kentucky, Senator McConnell, 81, seemed paralyzed for about 30 seconds, unable to answer a question from a reporter. He had just been asked about his desire to run again in 2026.
Patron of Republicans in the Senate since 2007
The Republican tenor had already experienced a very similar episode on July 26, freezing for no reason in the middle of a press conference on Capitol Hill, before his entourage invited him to slip away. Asked about Mitch McConnell’s condition, White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre wished him “a speedy recovery”.
In March, the senator was hospitalized after a fall during a private dinner party, which left him with a concussion, a broken rib and nearly six weeks out of work.
Mitch McConnell, undisputed leader of the Republicans in the Senate since 2007, found himself in this capacity on the front line of the fight against the policies of the administration of Democratic President Barack Obama (2009-2017), but also to support Donald Trump, who arrived in power in January 2017.
Difficult relations with Donald Trump
Between these two men who hate each other, the alliance is above all circumstantial. Mitch McConnell was pleased to have been able to confirm a record number of conservative federal judges, as well as three to the Supreme Court. But he had strongly criticized the actions of Donald Trump during the assault on Capitol Hill, without however going so far as to vote to condemn him in the Senate during his second impeachment.
McConnell also believes Donald Trump cost Republicans a majority in the Senate in 2020 and the midterms last November with his obsession with imaginary presidential fraud and then backing conspiratorial candidates. Donald Trump regularly attacks McConnell on social media, accusing him of lacking loyalty.
Last January, Mitch McConnell broke the record for longevity for a party leader in the Senate by dethroning Democrat Mike Mansfield, in office for 16 years in the 1960s and 70s. While his retirement could be hasty, two Johns hold the rope to succeed him: the senator from South Dakota, John Thune, current number 2 in the hierarchy, and the Texan John Cornyn, former “whip” (whip) of the party. Their first name is not their only common point: they both criticized Donald Trump and his repulsive effect among moderates.