Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., appeared to freeze up while speaking to reporters his home state Kentucky on Wednesday when asked if he will seek reelection in 2026.
Video shows that McConnell, 81, appeared to begin answering the question before pausing. An aide stepped in and asked if McConnell heard the question, to which he appeared to reply “yes” softly without continuing to speak. Another aide stepped in and spoke to McConnell before the Kentucky Republican began to address reporters again.
He answered other questions — including about Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron running for governor — but not about his reelection prospects, and he appeared to have difficulty speaking.
A spokesperson for McConnell said that he felt “momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today.”
An aide to the Kentucky Republican said that while McConnell feels “fine,” he’ll be seeing a doctor before his next event as a “prudential measure.”
At an event later Wednesday afternoon in Washington, D.C., President Joe Biden said that he was “going to try to get in touch” with McConnell later in the day.
In July, the Republican leader similarly paused during a press conference on Capitol Hill. He was conducting the weekly Republican leadership news conference when he stopped speaking and appeared to freeze. His colleagues asked him if he wanted to go to his office. He did not answer, but slowly walked back to his office with an aide and Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso, a former orthopedic surgeon who is the No. 3 Republican in the Senate.
A few minutes later, McConnell returned to the podium and was asked about his health and what happened. He said he was fine. A McConnell aide said he felt lightheaded and stepped away for a moment. The aide requested anonymity to speak about the senator’s health.
Earlier this year, McConnell was hospitalized after falling and hitting his head at a hotel in Washington. He suffered a fractured rib and a concussion and was out of the Senate for several weeks as he recovered.
This latest incident, the second in as many months, is likely to raise more questions about the Kentucky Republican’s fitness to serve, as well as reignite calls for age limits in Congress.
McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984 and has led Republicans in the upper chamber of Congress since 2007.
Spectrum News’ Julia Benbrook, Maddie Gannon and Deborah Harbsmeier contributed to this report.
