Mitch McConnell fell getting off plane at Reagan Airport on July 14: report
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly tripped and fell while getting off an airplane less than two weeks before he suddenly froze up Wednesday while speaking with reporters, raising questions about his health.
McConnell, 81, took a spill on July 14 after a flight he and other passengers had boarded at Reagan National Airport outside of Washington, DC was canceled, sources familiar with the incident told NBC News.
While getting off the plane, the Kentucky Republican did a “face plant,” according to a fellow passenger on the plane who did not actually witness the fall.
The person told the outlet they spoke with another passenger who had aided the senator after the fall.
McConnell has also been using a wheelchair as of late to safely traverse crowded airports, a source told NBC News.
The top GOP senator frightened reporters and colleagues on Tuesday when he suddenly stopped speaking and froze in silence for nearly half a minute while delivering remarks at a press conference on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
“Are you good, Mitch?” Sen. Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) leaned in and asked to break the awkward silence after McConnell trailed off.
He declined to go back to his office and returned to the podium to answer questions about the strange moment.
CNN chief congressional correspondent Manu Raju asked McConnell whether the brief freeze-up stemmed from an “injury earlier this year when you suffered a concussion.”
“I’m fine,” McConnell responded.
“You’re fine, you’re fully able to do your job?” Raju pressed.
“Yep,” McConnell said, before taking additional questions about other issues.
A McConnell aide later told reporters that the minority leader “felt light-headed and stepped away for a moment” but returned to the podium to field questions, “which as everyone observed was sharp.”
In March, McConnell suffered a concussion when he fell at the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Washington DC, during a fundraising event. He returned to the Senate five weeks later.
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