For the second time in about a month, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell froze up when speaking to reporters. This time, it was much worse.
During a Wednesday press conference, McConnell was asked about running for reelection, and completely froze. An aide tried to repeat the question to him, but he couldn’t respond and merely had a blank stare, at which point the aide said, “I’m sorry y’all, we’re going to need a minute.”
At another point in the press conference, McConnell struggled with easy questions about the Kentucky governor’s race and Donald Trump.
Here's more of what we saw at the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce Government Forum. Hoping Sen. McConnell is able to take some time to rest @WLWT pic.twitter.com/wU91yTIDZk
— Hannah Thomas (@HannahPThomas) August 30, 2023
Last month, McConnell raised concerns when he froze up at a press briefing on Capitol Hill, and was led away by fellow senators before coming back. His office tried to play it off as his feeling briefly “light headed.”
It’s one thing for something to happen once, but when it happens twice, and in a progressively worse way, it becomes harder to sweep under the rug.
This is all very troubling, and obviously, I wish McConnell well. But no matter what one thinks of his performance in the past, it’s tough to see how much longer he can serve as the highest-ranking Republican in the Senate if he is not in a position to handle basic questions from reporters. This is especially true given that Republicans plan to make President Biden’s age and declining mental state a central part of their argument against him next year.