During a news conference on Wednesday, August 30, in Covington, Kentucky, the topic of whether Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who is now serving his seventh term in office, will run for reelection in 2026 was posed to him. He requested that the reporter pose the question twice since he was unable to hear.

When he finally understood the question, he chuckled for a brief while before becoming still. Then one of his assistants came up to him and asked him some questions on the subject. He mumbled, “Yes,” but paused for a further five seconds before telling the press to wait for him for a minute.

“Come with us,” one of his other helpers said as they approached him and asked if he wanted to walk outside. Although he appeared to be muttering “Okay,” he was really giving the go-ahead for another question. They inquired if anybody else had any questions and advised everyone to speak out.

The question that had been asked before to the moment being frozen was subsequently replaced with one concerning Daniel Cameron, the Republican attorney general of Kentucky now serving as secretary of state, and his announcement that he intended to run for governor in May 2022. “I think the governor’s race is going to be very close,” McConnell shot back.

The final question he took was on Donald Trump’s most recent indictment in Georgia, but Mitch McConnell avoided it as well before being escorted off the platform. A later statement said that McConnell “felt momentarily lightheaded and paused during his press conference today.”

Now, twice in the last four weeks, McConnell’s press conferences have been canceled because of freezing up. The first incident happened on July 26 at a routine news conference. He froze up after being questioned, being silent for maybe thirty seconds or so, and then he was brought away.

He was escorted back to his office and left for a bit before coming back to the platform and declaring, “I’m fine.” Later on, he revealed that the president had been in touch with him over the occasion, and McConnell made light of getting “sandbagged” at the platform, referencing the vice president’s comment following his fall.

Republicans and Democrats are keeping a watch on Mitch McConnell’s ageing, despite the fact that he has always taken pleasure in being “stronger than mule piss.” His misfortunes are adding to his age. He has had two falls in the last five months in addition to his two frozen moments.

“Leader McConnell tripped at a dinner event Wednesday evening and has been admitted to the hospital and is being treated for a concussion,” a spokesman stated in March. According to reports, he fell at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in Washington, D.C., breaking a rib and concussing him.

The second fall happened in July as the victim was stepping off an aircraft at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport; it was not disclosed at the time. It was judged “prudent and precautionary” to wheel him around the airport in a wheelchair after he apparently collapsed and banged his face.

One of the more senior senators now sitting in the Senate is Mitch McConnell, 81; other elders include Dianne Feinstein of California, 90, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, 83. The average age of members of Congress is presently 59, which is troubling.