Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) fell while leaving a plane earlier this month, NBC News reported Wednesday after the 81-year-old lawmaker froze up in mid-speech during a news conference.
The accident at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport had not been revealed publicly, according to the network. McConnell did not appear seriously hurt and returned to the Capitol that day, but the details were concerning.
A flight with McConnell onboard was canceled on July 14, prompting the senator to disembark. He tripped and fell in a mishap described as a “face plant” by a passenger who did not witness it but spoke to someone who did, NBC reported. That same passenger also said they spoke to another person on the flight who aided McConnell afterward.
McConnell, who contracted polio as a child, broke his rib and sustained a concussion in a fall in March. He fractured a shoulder in an accident in 2019.
An unidentified Republican senator told the network after McConnell suddenly went silent on Wednesday: “He’s definitely slower with his gait” and has not addressed health issues in meetings.
HuffPost reached out to McConnell’s office for comment on the airport incident.
On Wednesday as he addressed reporters, McConnell stopped speaking and appeared disoriented. He was escorted away. He returned later and said only: “I’m fine.”
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