Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell appeared to freeze for about 30 seconds on Wednesday while speaking with reporters after a speech in Covington, Kentucky.
The incident is similar to an episode McConnell experienced at the US Capitol late last month and is likely to raise additional questions about the fitness of the 81-year-old to lead the Senate Republican caucus.
Wednesday’s episode occurred when a reporter asked the Republican leader if he was planning to run for reelection in 2026. McConnell had to ask him to repeat the question several times, chuckled for a moment, and then paused.
Someone at his side then asked him, “Did you hear the question, senator, running for reelection in 2026?” McConnell did not respond.
Article includes video of the incident.
Sounds kind of like when my maternal grandma had a series of micro strokes for a few months before having the Big One.
Time to retire, Mitch. For both our sakes.
All these old fossils need to GTFO. Him, Feinstein, all of em.
But McConnell in particular has royally fucked this country. No member of Congress should have that much power. But he used it quite effectively for his own ends. So fuck him
Its either happening frequently and just happens to have been caught on camera twice, or it could instead be related to hearing well enough to understand.
My grandparents were like this. Even if they could hear you, a lot of times it seemed out of context to them because they missed some other important piece.
Yeah, that’s not a hearing issue. I’ve seen people with hearing issues who zone out because they can’t hear / follow the conversation. But, they’re not at a podium at the time. When that happens they know they can just back out of the conversation and hang out until the conversation is over, or the meal is over, or whatever.
When you’re at the podium you know you’re the focus of attention and need to respond. You can’t just stand there with a blank look. That looked more like a stroke or a seizure than a lack of hearing.
You’d think if it were a hearing issue he would just say “Could you repeat the question?” and not stand there like a deer in headlights.
🦌💡💡
He did ask them to repeat the question, several times, before just standing there blankly.
Schrödinger’s McConnell: competent enough to lead the Republicans in Senate, not competent enough to answer questions about Trump under oath.
Mitch has had a series of bad falls over the past year, this isn’t just poor hearing. Something else is going on and this is elderly abuse keeping him in office
Senators are among the most powerful politicians in the US, as well as on the planet, and they know it. They don’t stand there befuddled because they’re socially awkward. If they’re befuddled, it’s because they’re befuddled.
We are seeing the human version of the Mac’s spinning beach ball. I have a cat with the same problem. I would not nominate her for a seat in the Senate.
Glitch McConnell.
I kind of hope he doesn’t retire and goes out in an explosion of bodily fluid on live TV. What a show that would be.
My sister’s absence seizures turned out to be stage four brain cancer. I know he’s an arsehole, but doesn’t he have anyone looking out for him? At all? He needs help.
Did you see the look on that lady’s face? She wasn’t even worried, she was annoyed. That’s the world Republicans want to create for everyone. A Russia-like society where no one gives a fuck about anyone outside their immediate family, because it makes people much easier to control.
Ugh yes. It was like her gadget had malfunctioned, AGAIN.
After reading all the comments about wanting his life to be over and the counters about feeling bad for him etc. I think ive come to a conclusion on how to ethically handle him.
I’m going to laugh. I’m going to laugh at how foolish he looks having a stroke on stage. How despite all of the terrible things he has done to this country on a socio-economic level trying to line his pockets and stay in power, he is standing up there, feeble and barely coherent, looking like he simultaneously shat himself and forgot his name, I’m going to laugh.
Because if he wants any semblance of dignity, any ounce of respect, he needs to admit that he is done and bow out.
“But he is still human, have some empathy” No, why should I? This man has engineered tearing the country apart so he can put his grubby hands all over it and smear it in his own grease. And he is still trying to keep doing it!
What I see up there is an old man trying to walk across the freeway, with a dozen people telling him not to. And he is not only ignoring them but lifting his nose high and walking out into the road anyway. So when I see that mack truck hit him like it did on that stage, I laugh.
“The grace of God knows no bounds. But my mercy has some practical limitations.”
Americans stop voting old white dudes and ruining the rest of the world please.
Just stop voting old dudes period. A white old dude is as unsuitable to govern as a non-white old dude.
Vote for younger and more progressive generation.
I’m from UK and we need to stop that shit also.
But BoJo, Liz, Rishi and Starmer aren’t that old.
if you could choose one…
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it’s hard when the DNC and RNC hand-pick the candidates for us. Our primaries are a sham
This is the real problem.
Bingo. The problem here is old, not white or men. Only white, or only men is a separate problem, which is maybe what they meant.
I’ll disagree. Old is part of the problem but the huge majority of the problem is OLD AND WHITE. Literally America’s biggest issue. If you don’t think so, you’re either a troll or you live in a bubble.
If you don’t think so, you’re either a troll or you live in a bubble.
Weird, on a totally unrelated note: what do you think is driving the burgeoning popularity of white supremacists across the U.S.?
Just curious what your take is, considering you’ve clearly thought about this topic.
Have you not noticed how many towns and cities across the USA are designed? White people tend to live in the northern part of the city, while darker people tend to live in the southern part of the city.
That’s not by accident, the city planners design it that way, and they have different regulations and taxes and shit depending whether you live north or south of the highway or tracks…
I don’t fuckin want them either. It’s our fuckin boomers who want to take everything to the grave with them.
Let’s not be descrimatory here. I don’t think Dianne Feinstein is doing too well either:)
Weekend at Feinstein’s
Kentucky is going to Kentucky. Hold my beer while I burn the state to the ground. I lived there and it was disheartening how many people vote against their self interest.
Because to most people in Kentucky keeping America safe from Hillary Clinton is more important than healthcare, abortion access, or school funding. Those voters have shown us their priorities, time and time again, and they truly care more about culture war nonsense than anything else.
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They’re just voting for the only party who pretends to care about them.
Democrats have spent almost no energy on making rural voters feel included.
If you saw everything you’ve ever known decay into the shambles of globalization, then some orange guy comes and starts yelling about how he’s going to fight for your way of life, while the other guy is talking to the people who have been shaming you for decades, who do you think you’d vote for?
If we want a better future, we’re going to have to get over all this hatred towards our neighbors. Waving your hands around a map and saying “fuck allll these (rural) people” isn’t going to work anymore, because China/Russia know exactly how to exploit that hate.
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Last comment was deleted, so I guess I’ll repost it with edits.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer piece of shit.
Lot of folks trying to take the high road here out of compassion.
This guy single-handedly fucked democracy sideways for at least a generation. The reverberations of his Supreme Court shenanigans are going to be responsible for the deaths of thousands.
I hope he spends the rest of his days confused and shitting himself.
Why are comments being deleted?
I love how republicans will say Biden is too old and make fun of him while also down playing this BS…
Both can be true. I doubt Biden is the one making decisions. This guy is too old and both parties are as corrupt as it comes on this earth.
Oh both can be true, but acting like only one is, well that’s peak hypocrisy.
Also, yes both parties are corrupt, I’d agree with that, they’re out there enjoying the lobbying on both sides. But the corruption on one side is on VERY different levels.
I think both men are clearly too senile to make any decisions on their own. McConnell more than Biden, but both for sure.
Stating “acting like only one is” is in itself implying that only one side is stating this, thus creating your own hypocrisy. Slam dunk on that theory when your final line brings corruption into the argument which is irrelevant to the topic, as both sides are doing it. Regardless of party, people who are senile should not be in office.
Non American commenting here. Just want to see people make kind, and considerate word choices. Let’s bring people together. There are kind loving people, and there are hateful discriminating people on BOTH sides. If the scales are tipped towards one of those sides, we should not discriminate against the kind loving people still left on that side.
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I strongly disagree. In different words, you’re saying the left is there to defend against the evils of the right.
Left-wing politics tend to emphasize social equality, government intervention, and progressive policies. This includes support for programs such as universal healthcare, social welfare, and environmental regulations. Right-wing politics, on the other hand, prioritize individual freedom, limited government intervention, and traditional values. This often includes advocating for lower taxes, free-market economics, and a conservative stance on social and cultural issues.
Having 100% of either side is evil. Too left, we get Stallin. Too right we get Hitler. Which is more evil, is not relevant. The only thing that matters is that there is a balance between the 2. I’m not saying a 50/50 balance. Just a balance. Everyone will have a different point of view of where that balance lies, and it’s societies job to determine where it lands. I think society gets fucked up, when one or both sides stop seeing the balance and only see ‘us vs them’.
We should be striving for a society where differing perspectives are respected and where a nuanced understanding of complex issues is valued can help avoid the pitfalls of extreme ideologies. It’s essential to promote open dialogue, collaboration, and compromise to find solutions that benefit everyone while avoiding the pitfalls of ‘us vs them’ mentalities that can lead to division and discord.
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Fair points. I’ve had my share of politics for the morning, thanks for the discussion. Have a great day!
Well said.
lol okay you clearly need to brush up on american politics because no one who supports the party of not feeding or housing poor children is loving
Yes, there are bad people on both sides, but acting like both sides are equal is naive. One side is taking away health rights and literally banning books and outlawing the teaching of sexual education and slavery. A pretty good litmus test is if your side is banning books, you’re on the wrong side of history.
Couldn’t happen to a nicer piece of shit.
Lot of folks trying to take the high road here out of compassion.
This guy single-handedly fucked democracy sideways for at least a generation. The reverberations of his Supreme Court shenanigans are going to be responsible for the deaths of thousands.
I hope he unalives confused and shitting himself.
Not American, what did he do?
Put these fucking geriatrics out to pasture already. That includes Feinstein as well. Shameful that this dude is being paraded around in front of media when he’s barely coherent. It’s shit like this that makes it very evident how long the Silent Generation and the Baby Boomers have clung desperately onto power long past the age that they should have handed over the reins to the people who will actually have to live with the consequences of their decisions.
Where are all the Republicans deriding “Sleepy” Joe Biden? What are your thoughts on Mitch McConnell the stroke victim? Would you vote him back into office again if he or whoever was puppeteering his desiccated corpse decided to run again?
If he weren’t such an evil fuck, I’d feel bad for him. But he is an evil fuck, so oh well.
whatever is happening to him, I hope it’s causing him extreme discomfort. it’s the very least he deserves after all the shitty, life ruining ideas and policies he’s endorsed
Last comment was deleted so it bears repeating: Taking the “high road” gets no one anywhere. And I for one am happy he is publicly losing his dignity, when he has gleefully played a major role in robbing others of theirs.
I hope he dies :)
You’re in luck, we probably won’t have to wait long.
And replace him with a younger wingnut? Tbh I want him to live simply because the two dozen people who didn’t vote for Mitch to keep assfucking the state suffer less when he’s got lag issues over him turning over to a new cretin.
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Nah bro, short & sweet, that way he’s just gone right away. Who knows what evil he could do from his deathbed.
Who knows what evil he could do from his deathbed.
Literally could not be worse than the evil he is, and has been, doing as a major political leader in the US for the past 800 fucking years. At the very worst it’ll be just as bad as leaving him where he is right now for a few more days. I think we all deserve a little catharsis in his passing
Not immediately.
Let’s give him just enough time to appreciate the wet shit in his pants as he lies on the ground with the cameras pointing at him.
This man’s having seizures or strokes live on camera and no one’s doing anything about this.
I want to take a camera and microphone to a voting booth building and ask people “hey did you vote for a man over 70 years old today”
Just because it’s like encountering a bad show on live TV and skipping over it or a commercial and saying “damn that’s dumb who is buying this?!” And never finding out. The best eye opener is meeting people who you didn’t think actually existed.
I don’t think it’s a seizure. He probably pooped himself and realises that he smells like a piece of shit.
/s
People often poop themselves during seizures 😹
Good. Now reporters and camera-people know what to be on the lookout for. 💩
A mini-stroke, perhaps?
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I see a lot of hate towards him and it looks like he deserves it. But why is he still in the Senate? Do people vote for him?
I’m not an American, just trying to understand how it works.
All elections are local here. President/VP is the only office that the entire country votes on, and even that is really a weighted combination of the results of 50 different State elections (and DC). So the first part is that Mitch only has to answer to voters in his home state of Kentucky.
But then Mitch’s leadership position isn’t even due to that, but due to how long he has been there and how many favors he has done for Republicans there. He was elected as the Senate Republican leader strictly by Senate Republicans. But that position puts him in a much better position to shape legislation the way he wants to, and every politician wants to direct Federal money back home.
So there is added incentive for Kentucky to keep sending him well past his “Best Before” date, because they lose all that influence if they send someone else instead.
And Senate elections are also for six year terms. A lot can happen to an elderly person in six years. He didn’t show these symptoms when he won his last election.
do people vote for him?
yes. incumbents have a lot of staying power in elections just because they are the incumbent. there’s also a giant coordinated rightwing media propaganda machine that has been driving hatred into the hearts of vulnerable Americans for the past 60 years telling them to vote R no matter what. even if it hurts them.
Also specifically for Kentucky, Kentucky outside of Louisville and Lexington has had little to no growth and instead has been in decline*. Republicans and centrist Democrats(in the case of who ran against McConnell, Amy McGrath) are the only ones who claim to bring jobs back. A lot of rural Kentuckians felt especially alienated by what many saw as a condescending response from who they saw as the Democratic establishment telling them to “Learn to Code”. A lot of Kentucky voting is really about jobs rather than ideological issues, you saw the same with the election of Governor Andy Beshear(a Democrat) where he promised to fund the teacher pension where his incumbent opponent Matt Bevin didn’t really promise much in terms of economic opportunity. Back to McConnell, McGrath could’ve had a chance against him but I think also people saw the notoriety and power McConnell has in the party as him being uniquely positioned to negotiate more for the benefit of Kentucky.
This is a very good appraisal of the situation, however (not that you’re wrong), I wish I could ask these people how long they plan to keep reelecting the same person before they stop hoping he will fix their problems and start realizing he’s a big part of the reason they’re still problems.
Like…c’mon Kentucky. At what point do you go from, “We’ve had enough of this. Let’s vote in Republicans to bring us prosperity!” and eventually get to, “Damn, we’ve been reelecting these people for how long now? It’s been long enough. These problems haven’t gone anywhere, so either these people are incapable of solving them or are actively perpetuating them. Either way, time for someone new.”
That requires critical thinking, something conservatives are critical of. 😂
I’m from Louisville so I can’t speak for the whole state, but my interpretation is that Trump was the first presidential candidate in a long time to mobilize Kentuckians into thinking the issues of the state will be addressed nationally, again McGrath and other Democratic candidates recognized that and didn’t directly attacked Trump(IIRC Andy Beshear has also never really said anything against Trump). None of the Trump supporters I know care for McConnell at all(and they likely wouldn’t mind McGrath that much) but voted for McConnell as hoping it helps Trump’s goals basically, rather than a vote for McConnell.
That doesn’t explain the votes for him from 1984-2010
I can’t really offer a perspective on that because I wasn’t alive for half those years.
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Kentucky voters have historically LOVED him. Until recently that state has voted consistently for Republicans for a while, and McConnell is the most powerful Republican in the US. He is vastly responsible for the horrible shape our government is in right now.
It is not true to say the state has voted consistently Republican, it has leaned Republican in the past 20 years but there have been a few Democratic congressmen(and some areas like Louisville are essentially always blue) and the governor is more often than not a Democrat.
That is true. NKY is also a very blue area.
Political version of Weekend at Bernie’s. Too bad it’s not just a shitty movie.
Exactly what I was thinking.
That guy isn’t making any big decisions behind the scenes. He’s just being puppeteered until he dies.
Him and Feinstein both. We have a literal puppet government now.
Looking forward to the Feinstein / McConnell song and dance number…. “I have no strings to hold me down…”
Weekend at Bernie’s is cinema gold you philistine!
