Mitch McConnell, the octogenarian GOP leader in the U.S. Senate, had another “senior moment” Wednesday during a news conference.
McConnell attempted to answer a question about running for reelection, then, as he did before, froze like a bird in one of John James Audubon’s paintings.
Though the official doctor on Capitol Hill says McConnell is fine to continue working, skeptics know that nothing is fine about him.
The 81-year-old didn’t know where he was, let alone whether he would run for reelection, or even that he’s a U.S. senator from Kentucky.
The Big Freeze
The casually dressed McConnell, who strikingly resembles “Rachel” Levine, the demented man-lady who is No. 2 at the Department of Health and Human Services, was clearly out to lunch.
“OK,” he said to begin the presser.
Reporter: Senator, you’re up for election in three short years. What are your thoughts on that?
McConnell: I’m sorry. I had a hard time hearing you.
Reporter: That’s OK. What are your thoughts on running for reelection in 2026?
McConnell: What are my thoughts about what?
Reporter: Running for reelection in 2026?
McConnell: Oh [chuckling], That’s uh …
That’s when McConnell’s operating system locked.
An aide stepped in to reboot the addled 81-year-old, who will be 85 when he’s up for reelection.
Aide: Did you hear the question, Senator, running for reelection in 2026?
McConnell: [mumbling] Yeah.
Aide: All right. I’m sorry you all, we’re gonna need a minute.
Another aide stepped in to ask whether he needed to go outside, but McConnell said he was “OK.”
No, he wasn’t.
Later on, Brian Monahan, physician to the 535 worthies on Capitol Hill, said McConnell is fine.
“After evaluating yesterday’s incident, I have informed Leader McConnell that he is medically clear to continue with his schedule as planned,” Monahan said. “Occasional lightheadedness is not uncommon in concussion recovery and can also be expected as a result of dehydration.”
McConnell suffered a concussion and broke a rib when he fell in May.
This was his second bout of “lightheadedness.”
A month ago, McConnell was speaking and froze exactly as he did yesterday. He was stiffer than Henry Clay’s statue in the Capitol Rotunda.
Reaction
U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Republican from Georgia, said out loud what no one really wants to say.
“Severe aging health issues and/or mental health incompetence in our nation’s leaders MUST be addressed,” she X posted:
Biden, McConnell, Feinstein, and Fetterman are examples of people who are not fit for office and it’s time to be serious about it.
These politician’s [sic] staff and family members should be ashamed of themselves [for] enabling and allowing their loved ones to remain in office all to hold power.
We are talking about our country’s national security and it’s all at stake!
25th amendment and other measures need to be on the table.
Indeed. Twitter/X celebrity Rogan O’Handley went further.
“Dehydration,” he skeptically wrote:
The entire world has now watched Mitch McConnell experience total cognitive failure *twice* & the US Capitol physician says it’s b/c he didn’t drink enough water?!
These people will hold onto power no matter how much they humiliate America & themselves
RESIGN!
That isn’t likely to happen.
Biden, Feinstein, Fetterman
The 81-year-old Biden’s cognitive difficulties are well known. His dementia-driven impulsive behavior includes random nibbles on little girls, rages at staff members, myriad false memories, and not recognizing wife “Dr.” Jill. That last was three years ago, and he’s only worsened since.
Democratic Senator Dianne Feinstein of California, 90, visited another planet during a committee meeting and needed an aide to tell her to vote.
Pennsylvania Senator John Fetterman’s cognitive difficulties from a stroke in May last year are so obvious that no one denies them. Typically dressed in a hoodie and baggy shorts at events where business attire is required, the 54-year-old frequently emits runs of gibberish that do not resemble any known language.
Fetterman’s age aside, as The New American reported after McConnell’s first Big Freeze, other oldsters supposedly running the country include Iowa’s GOP senator, Chuck Grassley, who turns 90 on September 19, and Vermont’s socialist Bernie Sanders, who turns 82 on September 8.
The U.S. House has its share of octogenarians, too. Sixteen members of the House are over 80, including former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 83, and Grace Napolitano and Eleanor Holmes Norton, both 86.
When the House and Senate will begin staging a Walmart-like battery of scooters across Capitol Hill to move the elderly legislators hither and thither isn’t known.
