It was a bizarre scene yesterday afternoon in Washington when Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze mid-sentence during the weekly Republican leadership news conference. McConnell was making his opening remarks before stopping in the middle of a sentence and then staying silent for 19 seconds. His Republican colleagues started asking if he was okay, and he was then escorted away from the cameras and reporters by Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, a top McConnell deputy and doctor.
McConnell returned to the news conference a few minutes later under his own power, participating in the Q&A portion with the press. As he left the Capitol last night, McConnell spoke to reporters, saying that President Joe Biden had “called to check on me,” then grinned and said, “I told him I got sandbagged.” The 81-year-old McConnell has served in the Senate since 1985 and isn’t up for re-election until the 2026 midterms.