Mitch McConnell’s Health Woes Continue
The Senate Republican Leader had another concerning incident.
WaPo (“Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again while talking with reporters“):
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) appeared to freeze for more than 20 seconds Wednesday while taking questions from journalists in an incident that mirrored another occasion when he abruptly stopped speaking in late July.
McConnell took questions from reporters in Covington, Ky., after talking with a local group. A reporter asked him about running for reelection in 2026, then repeated the query twice when McConnell said he couldn’t hear, according to video of the incident.
McConnell, 81, chuckled and said, “Oh, that’s, uhh —” and stopped speaking. After about seven seconds, an aide approached and asked the senator if he had heard the question.
McConnell stared straight ahead, and the aide asked reporters to give them a minute.
Another aide then walked over and spoke to McConnell, who signaled that he was fine. McConnell then cleared his throat, said “Okay,” and continued to take questions. His answers were stilted.
In total, the minority leader was silent for more than 20 seconds.
“Leader McConnell felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today,” a spokesman for McConnell said in a statement afterward.
An aide to the senator, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private details, said McConnell would consult a doctor before his next event “as a prudential measure.”
McConnell spoke to several senators on his leadership team after the Wednesday afternoon incident. Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), the No. 2 in GOP leadership, said that McConnell seemed like his usual self and in “good spirits,” according to a Thune aide who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations.
President Biden was, once again, kind when asked for comment:
On Wednesday, as President Biden talked about the wildfires in Maui and the hurricane pounding Florida and other parts of the Southeast, he said he had just heard about the McConnell incident.
“Mitch is a friend, as you know, not a joke,” Biden said. “We have disagreements politically. But he’s a good friend, and so I’m going to try to get in touch with him later this afternoon.”
POLITICO (“McConnell quickly convenes with allies after second public freeze“) adds:
Mitch McConnell’s latest health scare guarantees Republican senators will return from recess next week just as they left — publicly and privately discussing the future of their 81-year-old leader.
[…]
While worries about McConnell’s first freeze had faded somewhat during August recess, with even some critics publicly defending his abilities, the second incident is sure to trigger increased scrutiny of McConnell’s hold on the conference, as well as who might succeed him.
Senators quickly sought more information about McConnell’s health after the incident, according to one person familiar with the dynamics. Shortly after the Wednesday incident, McConnell held calls with his closest allies including Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), Conference Chair John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas), according to people familiar with the calls. All of them are potential successors to McConnell.
[…]
Internally, McConnell is facing dual dynamics: His potential successors — Cornyn, Thune and Barrasso — are backing his leadership, staying supportive and say he’s sharp. There’s no mechanism to force another leadership race until the end of next year, though a group of five senators can call a special conference meeting to discuss the matter.
There’s no sign of that yet, though some Republican senators privately say his grip on the caucus and his engagement in meetings has waned since March. The dynamics are complicated by McConnell’s 2022 leadership race, in which he both won handily and faced his first opposition ever. He beat Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), a former chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, 37-10. That means he has a built-in group of detractors amid the latest health queries.
McConnell has led the conference since 2007, the longest run for a Senate party leader in history. He will be up for reelection in 2026, and his pause on Wednesday occurred after a question about whether he will run again.
The GOP leader still has unfinished business. He’s trying to facilitate more aid to Ukraine and offer an alternate vision to former President Donald Trump. Trump and McConnell haven’t spoken since December 2020, and Trump continues to advocate for Republicans to replace McConnell. The Kentucky Republican refuses to speak about Trump even as the presidential candidate cruises toward the GOP nomination.
The WaPo report also notes this:
Kentucky law would require Gov. Andy Beshear, a Democrat, to appoint a Republican successor if McConnell were to leave office. But Beshear declined to answer a question this month about whether he would do so, saying there was no indication McConnell would step down.
“There’s not going to be a vacancy,” he told Politico. “That would be total speculation.”
The link is to a POLITICO Magazine story from August 14, so not a response to the latest incident.
Given how much focus has been placed on Biden’s age and mental health, it’s reasonable to note that McConnell is eight months older and has now had multiple concerning episodes. Granting that he’s not in charge of the nuclear codes, he has a lot of responsibility.
One hopes that this is just a slow recovery from the fall and that he’ll regain full mental health. Given the balance of power in the Senate, it would be unthinkable for him to resign his seat and allow a Democrat to replace him.* But it’s certainly worth considering stepping aside as Republican leader. And, frankly, running for another six-year term that would take him to a couple of weeks shy of his 89th birthday would be unconscionable.
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*Charon points out in the comments below that Beshear is required under Kentucky law to appoint a Republican and, indeed, one from a short list provided by the state GOP. The excerpt I posted in the OP intimates that but I missed it.
I guess the big question is whether this is a situation more like Fetterman where there is a physical impairment, but he’s mentally still all there, or if it’s more like Feinstein where there is s fundamental mental impairment there.
My guess is McConnell’s case is closer to Fetterman’s, but he’s not helping himself by trying to hide it.
It is a bit alarming to watch, frankly. One does begin to wonder why he doesn’t retire and enjoy what time he has left.
One wonders how many times the same thing has happened not in view of the public.
@Jen:
The man clearly enjoys power and “being someone.” Once he retires, that’s gone.
This, of course, goes for lots of politicians. Combine that with the benefits of incumbency, parties that can’t can’t effectively control who gets to run and, eventually, you’ll end up with a gerontocracy.
@drj: Oh, I know. I used to work around politicians, I’ve seen this before.
That doesn’t mean it’s not sad (bordering pathetic), wasting what little time there is left hanging around DC instead of spending it with family.
I’d like to see a negotiation along the lines of both McConnell and Feinstein agree to resign and have their respective states send new Senators to replace them, and both parties get to keep whatever committee assignments those two senators held for their party.
Neither the Ds or the Rs lose with that deal, and America wins.
Of course, that would mean Newsom would have to choose Feinstein’s successor, but I can live with that.
@Jen:
He likes being someone important more (probably a lot more) than his own family. So I guess he is making the most of his last months or years.
@Tony W:
Exactly what I was thinking.
You know, I’m old enough to remember when, back in 1980, Chuck Grassley ran for the Senate based on his strong support for term limits – 43 years later he still supports term limits, he’s 88 years old, and he’s still in the Senate.
That can not happen, not his problem.
The law in KY requires the governor to appoint a Republican. Specifically, the Senator’s party names three candidate from whom the governor must choose.
@charontwo: That’s a provision I’d like to see other states adopt to forestall this issue. I didn’t know Kentucky had done so.
@drj: More often than not, it’s the staff that enables this behavior. Even if a Senator is replaced by someone of the same party, there’s a staff shake-up–inevitably, some will be replaced. These are hard jobs with long hours but they are fairly prestigious, more so when it’s someone in leadership.
@James Joyner:
Some other states do have similar legislation. But, I think it can be argued either way – the governor’s party also represents the will of the voters, perhaps he should be free to function as such.
BTW, IIRC this legislation is recent, enacted in response to a Democrat being elected governor.
If you are sufficiently cynical, you might forsee that legislation repealed the next time the governor is Republican, which would be consistent with the GOP SCOTUS nomination antics.
@drj:
By the way, this is also why I think that professional GOPers aren’t abandoning Trump – even though they know he ruins everything he touches.
Becoming a has-been is simply too high a price to pay.
If being someone important is more valuable to them than their families, why not more valuable than their integrity?
If McConnell is having transient ischemic attacks, they could be precursors to a major stroke.
@CSK:
They could also be absence seizures caused by something like epilepsy or Parkinson’s, which wouldn’t really affect his ability to do his job.
Polio is known to affect the central nervous system in some patients, and my understanding of Post Polio Syndrome does not include any nervous system issues – but the universe of patients is so small that this symptom might not be known.
Of course it may well be dementia or some other diagnosis unrelated to his polio.
I will be entirely honest here, McConnell is an evil bastard and I hope he suffers intensely. That man brings nothing but misery into the world. I hope he clings to power long enough to entirely debase himself before he dies a horrible, embarrassing death.
That being said, the absolute best part of his death will be the absolute collapse of the senate Republicans with a huge blow to the party in general. He’s a very talented, smart, patient and cagey politician. None of those Senate morons come close.
Mitt Romney will be on tv crying and rending his shirt with Collins and Murkowski while Rick Scott and Tuberville burn everything to to the ground. If we’re real lucky McConnell will die before the primary deadlines all pass so Scott and Tuberville can get a bunch of maniac fire breathers to run.
McConnell has to die otherwise the nitwits will be too scared of him.
Seems more likely to be post-concussive rather than TIAs. Would expect he has pretty significant cardiovascular work up. Regardless, if you assume the GOP cares more about power than about McConell as a person it puts them in a quandary. Get rid their most effective ever Senate leader or hold on knowing he looks worse than Biden undercutting the age argument.
Steve
@Beth:
I like you.
@charontwo: There is some question of the validity of that provision under the Kentucky Constitution. The Republicans fear that the present Democratic Governor would be willing to challenge it if given the occasion.
@a country lawyer:
Thanks.
I had been wondering about it maybe being challenged.
I’m not all that concerned.
I had a 22 year old cat. At 20 or so, she would have episodes where she would stare vacantly into space and be non-responsive for about 30 seconds. A few other times where she had seizures. She always bounced right back to normal.
The vet checked her out, there was nothing going on that was causing her obvious pain, and no one thought complicated tests on a 20 year old cat would be a good use of anyone’s time or money.
I recommend the same with McConnell. Take him to the vet, if he is in pain, consider putting him down, but otherwise just ignore it.
According to NBC, Marjorie Taylor Greene said that McConnell is “not fit for office.” She then added that Fetterman, Feinstein, and Biden aren’t, either.
@Gustopher:
And if there is pain, put him down. You wouldn’t want to have him suffer, just to keep him around.
The Capitol physician, Brian P. Monahan, M.D., has cleared McConnell to continue on in the Senate.
@CSK:
But the 77 year-old tub of goo with advanced covfefe syndrome is?
@Gustopher:.. At 20 or so, she would have episodes where she would stare vacantly into space and be non-responsive for about 30 seconds.
I’ve had many cats over the years. Some from kitten hood others adult strays. They all exhibited this behavior all the time. I’m guessing that your furball of joy spaced out when you were gone or just not looking.
@Michael Reynolds:
I don’t think Trump is remotely fit to serve as president. He never was, even in his so-called prime.
@Mister Bluster: No, this was not that — I was used to that. You could pet her and there was no response. You could touch her feet. You could pick her up and hold her. CAT.EXE had stopped functioning. She would then restart and be fine.
It was absolutely a cat having serious, temporary issues.
Did anyone try petting Mitch McConnell during his episodes?
@Michael Reynolds:
@CSK:
Benito is unique in the annals of political history He’s the one person who held a job for 4 years, and still lacks the experience for that position.
@Tony W:..Polio is known to affect the central nervous system in some patients, and my understanding of Post Polio Syndrome does not include any nervous system issues – but the universe of patients is so small that this symptom might not be known.
My friend Joe contracted polio as an infant in the early ’50s. He lived his entire life in a wheelchair. He never took one walking step. I was his personal attendant when we both lived in San Francisco in the mid ’70s. Part of the public assistance that was available to him as a quadriplegic included free physical therapy from the University of California SF Medical School. The first part of the program included a two week in patient evaluation session. One of the most useful things that was developed during that time was a tool he could use to hold toilet paper so he could clean himself after he was done on the throne. It was a liberating experience for him to finally be able to wipe his own ass at the age of 25. I thought it was great too since I didn’t have to do that any more. Another feature of his stay was the attention he attracted as a polio victim. Few if any of the medical students at UCSF had ever seen a case of polio. Joe had extensively educated himself on the malady and was glad to answer the questions of the several people who would seek him out.
Some time in the ’80s he developed symptoms that were eventually diagnosed as post polio syndrome. The identification of the malady took some time because as he told me none of the medical professionals that he consulted had ever seen it before. Fortunately for him the worst of the symptoms did not linger and he regained some of the limited strength he had in his “good” left arm. Before the attack of post polio syndrome he could lift a full cup of coffee. At the worst he had to drink the coffee through a straw. He later regained enough arm strength that he could lift up a half cup of mud and use modified utensils to feed himself.
@Kathy:
Well, what the hell did he do other than watch television all morning and all night, show up in the Oval Office in the afternoon, and play golf?
On the other hand, he did manage to wreck the Republic and try to turn it into a dictatorship, so there’s that.
@Gustopher:
Question: How bad does the pain have to be?
@CSK:
That actually qualifies him to come in second in Russia’s next presidential election.
Mad Vlad didn’t try to wreck Russia. He succeeded.
KY legislation:
Possibly conflicts with the U.S. Constitution, 17 amendment:
I don’t know about the KY constitution, but looks like a possible legal challenge.