Mitch McConnell appears to freeze again while speaking with reporters

Mitch McConnell once again had trouble speaking and hearing while addressing the media Wednesday in Kentucky.

The 81-year-old Senate Minority Leader was asked about running for re-election while attending an event in Covington, a Cincinnati suburb. Instead of answering, he stood vacantly for several seconds. After the reporter repeated the question, McConnell again stared straight ahead for 10 seconds.

Another reporter then asked about Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron running for governor, to which McConnell did not immediately react. After an assistant restated the question, McConnell mumbled a response.

McConnell did not substantially respond to a final question about Donald Trump’s latest indictment, and his handlers then escorted him away from the podium.

An eerily similar incident occurred July 26 in Washington. In that case, McConnell froze mid-sentence before he was ushered away by aides. On that day, he later reappeared to answer more questions. However, he took no further inquiries on Wednesday.

Two days after the first freeze, the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history insisted he would finish out his term despite the apparent health issues.

“Leader McConnell appreciates the continued support of his colleagues, and plans to serve his full term in the job they overwhelmingly elected him to do,” a spokesperson said.

McConnell’s team again brushed off Wednesday’s incident, saying the senator “felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today.”

Political observers have closely tracked McConnell’s health ever since he fell while climbing stairs in his home and broke his shoulder in 2019. In March 2023, McConnell fell again while attending a group dinner at a hotel in Washington.

McConnell suffered a concussion in that fall, and his injuries kept him away from Congress for six weeks. However, he has insisted the fall had no effect on his ability to govern and did not contribute to the random freezes.

When asked about Wednesday’s incident, President Biden called McConnell a “good friend” and said he would reach out to the longtime senator.

With News Wire Services