Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is being urged to step down after being photographed on Wednesday looking weak. He had hurt himself the day before by falling and hurting himself.
The 82-year-old leader of the Senate Republicans has had several health problems over the years, including several falls, one of which led to a concussion.
When the Republican fell, it shocked everyone in the Capitol. The press rushed to his office to see the leader and make sure he was okay. An image of McConnell went viral online after his fall, as someone can be seen pushing the top Republican in a wheelchair.
See it below:
McConnell’s spokesperson provided an update after the Kentucky Republican fell late last year.
“Leader McConnell tripped following lunch. He sustained a minor cut to the face and sprained his wrist. He has been cleared to resume his schedule,” a McConnell spokesman said.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.), who will succeed McConnell as Senate GOP leader in January, told reporters following the weekly Senate GOP policy luncheon that McConnell is “fine” and “in his office.” He referred any questions about McConnell to the senator’s staff.
Medical staff with a wheelchair were reportedly called to assist the senator after his fall. Republican Sen. John Barrasso, the incoming whip, told the Daily Mail that McConnell “is fine.”
McConnell, who was examined by a medical team, “has been cleared to resume his schedule,” his office said.
The outgoing Senate Republican leader has had several health scares in recent years.
Last year, McConnell revealed that he’s “not leaving the Senate” and that he’s focused on combating the Republican Party’s “isolationist movement,” which some viewed as a shot at President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming team.
During an interview with WHAS radio host Terry Meiners, McConnell vowed to use his remaining time in the Senate to hit back against GOP colleagues who aim to rein in U.S. support for foreign allies such as Israel and Ukraine.
Despite his plans to step down as party leader, McConnell said, “I’m not leaving the Senate.” He added, “I’m particularly involved in actually fighting back against the isolationist movement in my own party and so many others as well.”
McConnell mentioned Ukraine’s fight against Russia, a cause to which the US has allocated tens of billions of dollars.
“The symbol, lately, is ‘are we gonna help Ukraine or not?’ And I think it’s extremely important that we do that,” McConnell said.
Meiners noted that Kentucky GOP Sen. Rand Paul has criticized McConnell and said he is out of touch with the people in Kentucky.
“Paul would be the first one to say that he’s an isolationist. He has been all along. This is not anything new for him. And he and I have always disagreed on this kind of issue,” McConnell said, referring to Paul.
McConnell said that he finds it “more troublesome” that others appear to be “heading in that direction, making arguments that I think are easily refuted.”
He added, “We’re not losing any of our troops, the Ukrainians are the ones doing the fighting. If the Russians take Ukraine, some NATO country would be next and then we will be right in the middle of it.”
Several GOP senators are already planning for a post-Mitch McConnell world after they have grown increasingly frustrated with how he’s done his job and are confident that the party’s next Senate leader will be better.
The senators told The Daily Caller that his walled-off, McConnell-centric style of leadership is no longer appropriate in today’s political climate, adding that most Republicans in the chamber believe they should work together.
McConnell revealed in late February his decision to relinquish his role as Senate Republican leader come November.
The Kentuckian stated his intention to fulfill his term, concluding in January 2027, “albeit from a different seat in the chamber.”
