Mitch McConnell Tries to Shrug Off Mid-Presser Freeze

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) joked that he had been “sandbagged” hours after freezing during the start of a weekly Republican leadership press briefing and needing to be guided out of the room. 

McConnell returned to the press conference a few minutes later, and told reporters that he was “fine.” An aid for the minority leader’s office added that he had felt “lightheaded” and stepped away for a moment. 

Hours later, McConnell joked that he had been “sandbagged” when questioned by reporters in the Capitol. “The President called to check up on me, and I told him I got sandbagged,” McConnell said, referencing an incident earlier this year during which President Joe Biden made a similar quip after tripping over a sandbag. 

“Any idea what happened?” a reporter asked, to which McConnell replied “I’m fine.” 

In March, McConnell was hospitalized and suffered a concussion and a minor rib fracture after falling during a fundraising event at a Washington hotel. He discharged the following week and attended rehab before returning to the Senate in the spring.

Yet despite McConnell’s insistence that he is “fine,” the incident has reportedly left Senate Republicans a little rattled. “That obviously was concerning. I hope it was just a momentary issue and that he’s doing better,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) told Politico, which spoke to various lawmakers in the aftermath of the incident. “I just hope he’s doing OK. We really all hope he’s doing OK,” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) added. 

Prominent right-wing influencers seized on the incident to question McConnell’s fitness for office. Charlie Kirk, founder of the influential conservative nonprofit Turning Point USA, explicitly called for McConnell’s resignation. Other prominent conservative commentators including Rogan O’Handley and Federalist Co-Founder Sean Davis, also called for the Senator to step down. Davis called the episode “an embarrassment.”