HEALTH SCARE
Mitch McConnell, 82, falls down stairs & senators rush to help just weeks after scary tumble left him bloody and bruised
It marks his sixth medical emergency in just a few years
SENATOR Mitch McConnell suffered two falls at the Capitol on Wednesday and had to be taken away in a wheelchair.
The 82-year-old's back-to-back falls in one day came just weeks after he took a tumble that left him bloody and bruised.
5
5
5
McConnell, a survivor of Polio, was leaving Senate chambers on Wednesday when he plunged down a small flight of stairs.
Senators rushed over to help him, with Steve Daines and Markwayne Mullin lending a hand in getting him upright, according to Fox News.
The Kentucky senator fell a second time but wasn't seriously injured in the tumbles, his office told The U.S. Sun.
"Senator McConnell is fine," a spokesperson said.
READ MORE ON MITCH MCCONNELL
"The lingering effects of polio in his left leg will not disrupt his regular schedule of work.”
He fell moments after voting to confirm Scott Turner as the new housing secretary.
The senator had a busy day as he also voted to confirm Donald Trump's picks of Pam Bondi as attorney general, Chris Wright as energy secretary, and Doug Collins as secretary of veteran affairs.
The tumble down the staircase raised fresh concerns about his health just weeks after McConnell fell at a GOP lunch in December.
Most read in The US Sun
Medics were seen grabbing a wheelchair and racing to the senator's office after he collapsed.
He sprained his wrist and suffered a cut to his face in the mishap and was pictured bloody and bruised with a bandage on his face.
Mitch McConnell holds press conference as jubilant Republicans flip Senate after Trump win
The falls are the latest in a concerning series of health battles McConnell has faced in his final term in office.
HEALTH BATTLE
In March 2023, he suffered a concussion and a fractured rib in a terrifying fall at a dinner in Washington DC.
He was off work for six weeks for the injury.
And he sparked further concern in summer of 2023 when he froze up twice during news conferences.
During a briefing at the Capitol, he suddenly stopped speaking and stared straight ahead at assembled cameras and reporters for 19 seconds.
An aide finally intervened and he was to pick back up with his remarks.
He froze for a second time in August 2023 at an event in his home state.
McConnell's staff released doctor's notes a month later, saying he wasn't showing any signs of seizure disorders, a stroke, or Parkinson's disease.
Dr Brian Monahan, the attending physician of Congress, cleared McConnell to continue working.
McConnell stepped down from his post as Republican Senate leader in November and insisted he still plans to serve out his term, which ends in January 2027.
He had polio in his early childhood and has spoken openly about the long-term effects of surviving the disease.
5
5
In a 2020 interview with the Associated Press, he admitted it was still difficult to climb stairs because of the physical impacts of his sickness.
Despite McConnell's insistence that he is fit to work, it was reported that many Republicans behind the scenes have speculated on his future.
And his latest fall has prompted further calls for him to quit.
CALLS TO RESIGN
Conservative commentator Benny Johnson wrote, "It’s time to retire."
Jenna Ellis, Donald Trump's 2020 campaign attorney, echoed, "It happened again. Mitch McConnell has to resign."
On social media, there were pleas from supporters to "keep him in your prayers" while others called for term limits.
McConnell isn't the only politician that's sparked concerns about their ability to work as they grow older.
Nancy Pelosi, 84, was rushed to the hospital in December after she fell down a marble staircase at an overseas event.
Read More on The US Sun
The former US house speaker underwent hip replacement emergency following the fall.
Around a million senior adults are hospitalized for injuries related to falls each year, according to the CDC.
Mitch McConnell's road to Republican Senate leader
- Mitch McConnell was born in Sheffield, Alabama, on February 20, 1942.
- He enlisted in the US Army Reserve as a private in Louisville, Kentucky.
- He got his start in politics in 1968 as a chief legislative assistant to Senator Marlow Cook in Washington, DC.
- In 1971, McConnell returned to Kentucky, where he worked on Tom Emberton's campaign for state governor.
- In October 1974, McConnell returned to the nation's capital to fill a position as deputy assistant attorney general under President Gerald Ford.
- McConnell was first elected to the Senate in 1984, making history as the first Republican challenger in the country to defeat an incumbent Democrat and the first GOP member to win a statewide Kentucky race since 1968.
- Republicans voted McConnell the party's leader in 2007.
- After Republicans took control of the Senate following the 2014 Senate elections, McConnell became the Senate Majority Leader.
- In June 2018, he became the longest-serving Senate Republican leader in the history of the United States.